EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1986 NO. 290
Issued by the authority of the Justices of the High Court of Australia
AMENDMENTS TO THE HIGH COURT RULES
The Second Schedule to the High Court Rules specifies the amount which solicitors, who are entitled to practise in the High Court, may charge and be allowed, on taxation of costs, by the Taxing Officer of the Court in respect of proceedings in the Court.
The amounts in the Schedule were last varied by Statutory Rules No. 22 of 1986 made on 17 February 1986 and became operative from 24 February 1986.
A revised Second Schedule has been adopted by the Court after consultation with the Law Council of Australia and reflects the changes in the nature of the work carried out by solicitors practising before the Court that have occurred as a result of statutory changes to the jurisdiction of the Court since the current Schedule was adopted in 1955.
The Federal Costs Advisory Committee in its report to the Justices, dated 10 September 1986, recommended an increase of 3.4% to the solicitors’ costs as set out in the revised draft Second Schedule.
The Court has agreed to the recommendation of the Committee and the increase has been applied to each of the items in the revised Schedule, rounded off to the nearest ten cents.