SCCO assesses London county court costs

A new Practice Direction, inserted in the CPR after the Costs Practice Direction, makes provision for a pilot scheme for detailed assessment by the Supreme Court Costs Office of costs of civil proceedings in London county courts. The Practice Direction applies instead of paragraph 31.1 of the Costs Practice Direction, to requests for a detailed assessment hearing which are filed between 6 January and 5 July 2004, pursuant to a judgment or order for the payment of cost by one party to another in civil proceedings in any of the following county courts: Barnet, Bow, Brentford, Central London, Clerkenwell, Edmonton, Ilford, Lambeth, Mayors and City of London, Romford, Shoreditch, Wandsworth, West London, Willesden and Woolwich. The receiving party must file any request for a detailed assessment hearing in the Supreme Court Costs Office, which is the appropriate office for the purpose of CPR rule 47.4(1) and thereafter all applications and requests in the detailed assessment proceedings must be made to that Office.