The Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) (Magistrates' Courts) Order 2001

Statutory Instruments

2001 No. 3438 (L.30)

MAGISTRATES' COURTS, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) (Magistrates' Courts) Order 2001

Made

15th October 2001

Laid before Parliament

19th October 2001

Coming into force

15th November 2001

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 1(1) and (4)(c) of the Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) Act 1975(1), makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) (Magistrates' Courts) Order 2001 and shall come into force on 15th November 2001.

(2) In this Order any reference to a section by number alone refers to the section so numbered in the Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) Act 1975.

Specification of magistrates' courts

2.  For the purposes of section 1(1) there are specified all magistrates' courts in England and Wales, and accordingly that subsection applies to civil proceedings in or before those courts.

Rules of court

3.  In section 1 “rules of court”, in relation to magistrates' courts in England and Wales, shall mean rules made under section 144 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980(2).

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Michael Willis

Parliamentary Secretary

Lord Chancellor’s Department

Dated 15th October 2001

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order extends the scope of the Litigants in Person (Costs and Expenses) Act 1975 to magistrates' courts in England and Wales. The effect is to allow a litigant in person in civil proceedings in magistrates' courts in whose favour an order for costs has been made to recover sums in respect of the work done by him in connection with the proceedings, and expenses and losses incurred.

(1)

1975 c. 47; there are no relevant amendments.

(2)

1980 c. 43, as amended by paragraph 25 of Schedule 18 to the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) and paragraphs 26 and 29 of Schedule 11 and paragraph 95 and 116 of Schedule 13 to the Access to Justice Act 1999 (c. 22).