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Costs Immunity: Banishing The 'Bane' Of Costs From Public Interest Litigation, Martin Twigg

Dalhousie Law Journal

For litigants raising a matter of public interest, the possibility of facing an adverse costs award if unsuccessful may act as a deterrent to pursuing their legal claim. The author evaluates a form of costs order called "costs immunity," referred to as "protective costs orders" (PCOs) in the U.K., as a means of removing the deterrent effect of costs on public interest litigants. Part Iprovides an overview of costs law in Canada. Part // reviews the various types of costs orders employed by Canadian courts to facilitate access to justice in public interest litigation. Part Ill explores the English experience …