Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Legal Aid Act 1978 - SECT 40G

Recovery of costs

40G. Recovery of costs



(1) A court may make in favour of an assisted person any order for costs that
it may otherwise make, even though no amount has been paid or is or will be
payable for costs by the assisted person in whose favour the order is made or
that the costs so ordered are in excess of the total amount paid or payable
for costs by the assisted person.





(2) All costs payable under the terms of-

   (a)  a judgment or order; or

   (b)  settlement of an action or claim-

to a person who has received litigation assistance in the obtaining of the
judgment, order or settlement (except any portion of the costs that may be for
services rendered or disbursements paid for that person before litigation
assistance was provided) are payable to the trustees.

(3) The trustees are entitled to exercise in the name of the assisted person
referred to in subsection (2) all rights and remedies in relation to the
recovery of the costs referred to in that subsection which that person would
be entitled to exercise if the person were not an assisted person.

(4) If-

   (a)  a person is liable to pay costs payable under this section to the
        trustees; and

   (b)  the trustees or the legal practitioner acting for the assisted person
        gives notice to the person referred to in paragraph (a), or the legal
        practitioner acting for that person, of the rights of the trustees in
        relation to the costs-

the person is not discharged from liability by reason only of making a payment
in respect of costs to a person other than the trustees or the legal
practitioner for the assisted person.

(5) On the assessment of costs payable to an assisted person under the terms
of-

   (a)  a judgment or order; or





   (b)  settlement of an action or claim-

no item shall be disallowed merely because the assisted person, by reason of
being an assisted person, is under no obligation to pay, wholly or partly, for
the service to which the item relates or, in the case of a disbursement
(whether for counsel's fees or otherwise) merely because the amount has not
been paid before the assessment.