Bills of costs in proceedings in the District Registries of the High Court and the County Court are frequently transferred to the SCCO either at the request of the parties or of the Court’s own initiative. This is likely to occur when a District Judge considers the size and complexity of the bill warrants such a transfer.

When bills are transferred from a District Registry or a County Court Hearing Centre by an order of that Court, the parties will be served with a copy of that order. Sometimes such an order is made immediately prior to the date fixed for detailed assessment at the local Court, which itself may be some time after the parties first requested a hearing date. Every effort is made by the SCCO to list the transferred case at the earliest opportunity. When, however, the parties have already waited for a significant time for their bill to be assessed by the local Court, they should notify the SCCO of this fact immediately after the order transferring the case is made, so that a hearing date which is as early as possible can be given. Otherwise the parties may find themselves at the end of the queue of cases awaiting a hearing date at the SCCO.

Extract from the Senior Courts Costs Office Guide 2018