Apportionment of Costs and Contributory Negligence: Section 3 of the Negligence Act (1993)

Keywords: contributory negligence; costs; entitlement; liability; share; apportionment; offer; plaintiff; deduction; Negligence Act

Legal proceedings are often necessary to recover compensation for loss or injury caused by others, but they can be an expensive process. A person required to proceed to court will ordinarily recover some compensation for their legal costs, but if they are found to be partly responsible for the loss or injury their award of legal costs can be drastically reduced. This project examines this practice and potential legislative changes to make awards of legal costs more equitable.