Clause 93 - Award of costs against third parties
Courts Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I am grateful to the Minister for spending a little time going through all the amendments. He will appreciate that both the hon. Member for North Norfolk and I feel quite strongly about the issues. It was particularly helpful to hear the Minister's response to amendment No. 98, in which he made it clear that third parties will have the right to be heard before any third party costs order is made against them. Of course, amendment No. 98 simply says ''Regulations . . . must provide'', so we were still saying—as was the Minister—that the details would be in regulations. However, the Minister says that he does not want the wording that we have put forward to be added to the Bill because he will make the regulations anyway. Now that he has said so on record on behalf of the Government, we have achieved our main object.
I do not entirely agree with all the Minister's responses on the other amendments. I would have preferred to include the definition of ''serious misconduct'' given in amendment No. 99, and I think that it would have been helpful to include ''serious and wilful'', too. However, I shall not detain the Committee by dividing it on the amendments, as we have dealt with what I regard as the most important issue of all—that third parties should be guaranteed a right to be heard before a costs order is made against them. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 93 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 94 and 97 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 6 agreed to.