[2025] UKUT 00300 (LC)

Fecha: 30-Sep-2025

The Tribunal’s power to award costs

The Tribunal’s power to award costs

14.

Section 29 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 provides:

"29(1) The costs of and incidental to –

… (b) all proceedings in the Upper Tribunal,

shall be in the discretion of the Tribunal in which the proceedings take place.

(2)

The relevant Tribunal shall have full power to determine by whom and to what extent the costs are to be paid.

(3)

Subsections (1) and (2) have effect subject to Tribunal Procedure Rules."

15.

The relevant Tribunal Procedure Rules, to which the powers in section 29 are made subject, are the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) (Lands Chamber) Rules 2010 (“the Rules”), rule 2(1) of which states that:

"[the] overriding objective of these Rules is to enable the Tribunal to deal with

cases fairly and justly".

16.

Rule 2(3) requires the Tribunal to:

"give effect to the overriding objective when it …

(a)

exercises any power under these Rules …"

17.

As amended, Rule 10 provides, so far as relevant (and with my emphasis):

“Orders for costs
10.
– (1) The Tribunal may make an order for costs on an application or on its own initiative.

(2)

Any order under paragraph (1) –

(a)

may only be made in accordance with the conditions or in the

circumstances referred to in paragraphs (3) to (6);

(b)

must, in a case to which section 4 of the 1961 applies, be in accordance with the provisions of that section.

(3)

The Tribunal may in any proceedings make an order for costs –

(a)

under section 29(4) of the 2007 Act (wasted costs) and for costs incurred in applying for an order for such costs;

(b)

if the Tribunal considers that a party or its representative has acted unreasonably in bringing, defending or conducting the proceedings; or

(c)

in the circumstances to which paragraph (14) refers

…

(6)

The Tribunal may make an order for costs in proceedings –

…

(b)

for injurious affection of land;

…

(8)

In proceedings to which paragraph (6) applies, the Tribunal must have regard to the size and nature of the matters in dispute.

…

(12)

The amount of costs to be paid under an order under this rule may be determined by –

(a)

summary assessment by the Tribunal;

…

(14)

The Tribunal may order a party to pay to another party costs of an amount equal to the whole or part of any fee paid (which has not been remitted by the Lord Chancellor under the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) Fees Order 2009) in the proceedings by that other party that is not otherwise included in an award of costs.”

18.

The compensation payable to Mr Nelson was determined under Paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 to the Electricity Act 1989. As I indicated in the Compensation Decision (at [4]), under paragraph 7(4) of Schedule 4 to the 1989 Act, section 4 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 applies to the Tribunal’s determination of compensation. Accordingly, under Rule 10(2)(b), I must determine costs in accordance with that section. As far as relevant to this decision, it provides (again, with my emphasis):

“4.— Costs.
(A1) In any proceedings on a question referred to the Upper Tribunal under section 1 of this Act—
(a)
the following subsections apply in addition to section 29 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (costs or expenses) and provisions in Tribunal Procedure Rules relating to costs; and
(b)
to the extent that the following subsections conflict with that section or those provisions, that section or those provisions do not apply.
(1)
Where …—
(a)
the acquiring authority have made an unconditional offer in writing of any sum as compensation to any claimant and the sum awarded by the Upper Tribunal to that claimant does not exceed the sum offered; …
the Upper Tribunal shall, unless for special reasons it thinks proper not to do so, order the claimant to bear his own costs and to pay the costs of the acquiring authority so far as they were incurred after the offer was made or, as the case may be, after the time when in the opinion of the Upper Tribunal the notice should have been delivered.
...
(4)
The Upper Tribunal may in any case disallow the cost of counsel.
(5)
Where the Upper Tribunal orders the claimant to pay the costs, or any part of the costs, of the acquiring authority, the acquiring authority may deduct the amount so payable by the claimant from the amount of the compensation payable to him.”

19.

Drawing together the relevant statutory provisions and Rules, in a claim for compensation under the Electricity Act 1989, the Tribunal has power to award costs. That power must be exercised in accordance with s.4 of the Land Compensation Act 1961, and to the extent that there is any conflict between s.4 of the 1961 Act, the Tribunal’s Rules, and the Tribunal’s general powers to award costs under section 29 of the 2007 Act, s.4 of the 1961 Act will prevail.