Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Subject to
subsection (2) and sections 205SB, 237A and 242, each party to
proceedings under this Act is to bear the party’s own costs.
(2) If, in proceedings
under this Act, the court hearing the proceedings is of the opinion that there
are circumstances that justify it in doing so, the court may, subject to
subsections (3), (5) and (6) and in accordance with any relevant rules,
make such order as to costs and security for costs, whether by way of
interlocutory order or otherwise, as the court thinks just.
(3) In considering
what order (if any) should be made under subsection (2), a court must
have regard to —
(a) the
financial circumstances of each of the parties to the proceedings;
(b)
whether any party to the proceedings is in receipt of assistance by way of
legal aid and, if so, the terms of the grant of that assistance to that party;
(c) the
conduct of the parties to the proceedings in relation to the proceedings
including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the conduct of
the parties in relation to pleadings, particulars, discovery, inspection,
directions to answer questions, admissions of facts, production of documents
and similar matters;
(d)
whether the proceedings were necessitated by the failure of a party to the
proceedings to comply with previous orders of a court;
(e)
whether any party to the proceedings has been wholly unsuccessful in the
proceedings;
(f)
whether a party to the proceedings has made an offer in writing to another
party to the proceedings to settle the proceedings and the terms of any such
offer; and
(g) such
other matters as the court considers relevant.
(4) To avoid doubt, in
proceedings in which an independent children’s lawyer for a child has
been appointed, the court may make an order under subsection (2) as to
costs or security for costs, whether by way of interlocutory order or
otherwise, to the effect that each party to the proceedings bears, in such
proportion as the court considers just, the costs of the independent
children’s lawyer in respect of the proceedings.
(5) However, in
proceedings in which an independent children’s lawyer for a child has
been appointed, if —
(a) a
party to the proceedings has received legal aid in respect of the proceedings;
or
(b) the
court considers that a party to the proceedings would suffer financial
hardship if the party had to bear a proportion of the costs of the independent
children’s lawyer,
the court must not
make an order under subsection (2) against that party in relation to the
costs of the independent children’s lawyer.
(6)
In considering what order (if any) should be made under
subsection (2) in proceedings in which an independent children’s
lawyer has been appointed, a court must disregard the fact that the
independent children’s lawyer is funded under a legal aid scheme or
service established under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law or approved
under the Family Law Act.
[Section 237 amended by No. 35 of 2006
s. 49, 77(1) and (2), 102 and 140.]