A solicitor may apply to the court for an increase in the charges to be allowed at taxation in respect of work carried out by the entitled party’s solicitor, i.e. the party in whose favour an award of expenses has been made. The purpose of the application is to reflect the responsibility undertaken by the solicitor in the conduct of the proceedings. The additional fee or charge is only applied to the solicitor’s fee element of the judicial account (plus VAT), not to outlays. Therefore, counsel’s fees cannot attract an additional fee or charge. If the application is granted it has the effect of increasing the fee element of the judicial account by the percentage determined by the court or auditor.

Such an application is competent whether the account of expenses is pre- pared on a detailed itemised basis or on a block fee basis.

For actions commenced prior to 29 April 2019, RCS r. 42.14 governed the Court of Session position and para. 5(b) of the general regulations schedule to the Act of Sederunt (Fees of Solicitors in the Sheriff Court) (Amendment and Further Provisions) 1993, as amended, governed the Sheriff Court position. These provisions remain in force for actions raised pre-29 April 2019. The Act of Sederunt (Rules of the Court of Session, Sheriff Appeal Court Rules and Ordinary Cause Rules Amendment) (Taxation of Judicial Expenses) 2019 states that all the provisions except those mentioned in r. 2(2) and 2(3) apply from the date the Act of Sederunt comes into force, i.e. 29 April 2019. None of the provisions listed under r. 2(2) or 2(3) affect Part 2 of Ch. 42 (which covers additional fee applications in the Court of Session). Rule 4(14) of the 2019 Act of Sederunt says that Part 2 of Ch. 42 is omitted but as that only applies to actions commenced on or after 29 April 2019, Part 2 of Chapter 42 remains in force for actions commenced prior to that date, notwithstanding it has been deleted from the rules section on the Scottish Courts website. The 2019 Act of Sederunt, in r. 7, specifically saves the provisions in the 1993 Act of Sederunt for sheriff court actions raised prior to 29 April 2019.