Administrative Notice QLD 6
This Administrative Notice is REVOKED
On 25 October 2016, as part of the National Court Framework (NCF) reforms, all existing Administrative Notices were revoked and 26 new national practice notes were issued, effective immediately.
There will no longer be any administrative state-based notices.
To assist Court users to understand the changes to the practice documents, the Court has prepared:
Bills of costs
Queensland District Registry
Rule 40.20 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 provides that when a bill of costs is filed, a taxing officer will make an estimate of the approximate total for which, if the bill were taxed, the certificate of taxation would be likely to issue. The estimate is to be made in the absence of the parties and without making any determination on the individual items in the bill. The taxing officer will give notice, in writing, to each party interested in the bill of the estimate and, unless a party interested in the bill objects to the estimate in accordance with Rule 40.21, the amount of the estimate is the amount for which the certificate of taxation will be issued.
Objection to the estimate
Rule 40.21 provides:
(1) A party interested in the bill who wants to object to the estimate must, within 21 days after the issue of the notice of estimate:
(a) file a notice of objection, in accordance with Form 128; and
(b) pay into the Litigants’ Fund an amount of $2,000 as security for the costs of any taxation of the bill.
(2) On receipt of the notice of objection and the payment in paragraph (1) (b), the Registrar may direct:
(a) the parties to attend before a designated Registrar for a confidential conference to:
(i) identify the real issues in dispute; and
(ii) reach a resolution of the dispute; or
(b) a provisional taxation; or
(c) that the taxation of the bill proceed.
When a bill of costs is filed in the Queensland Registry of the Federal Court, the District Registrar will allocate the bill to a taxing officer to make an estimate of the approximate total for which, if the bill were to be taxed, the certificate of taxation would be likely to issue. The District Registrar will endorse on the bill and each copy of it the date on which the taxing officer will make an estimate.
Upon receipt of the service copies of the bill of costs duly endorsed with the date referred to above, the party filing the bill must serve a copy of the bill and the documents mentioned in Rule 40.18 on the other parties at least 7 days prior to that endorsed date.
The party lodging the bill of costs must inform the Registry in writing when the bill has been served in accordance with the above Rules. The parties do not attend before the taxing officer on the date endorsed on the bill as the assessment will be made in the absence of the parties. The parties will receive written notification from the District Registrar of the amount of the estimate.
Form of bill of costs
Rule 40.18 provides that a bill, other than a short form bill, must be in accordance with Form 127 and must:
(a) contain particulars of:
(i) the work done by the lawyer, their staff and agents; and
(ii) the costs claimed for the work; and
(iii) disbursements incurred; and
(b) have attached to it, or be accompanied by, a copy of the receipt for each disbursement or, if not paid, a copy of the relevant accounts.
Heather Baldwin
District Registrar
1 August 2011
