Chapter 4

Miscellaneous

44. —(1) Without prejudice to section 45 , on an assessment having been made the Board may include in the notice it serves under section 30 in relation to the assessment the following statement.

(2) That statement (“the statement”) is one to the effect that the Board will direct, if the assessment is accepted by the claimant and accepted or deemed to be accepted by the respondent or one or more of the respondents, that the respondent or respondents who accept or are deemed to have accepted the assessment shall pay to the claimant, in addition to the amount of the assessment, a specified amount, being the whole or part, as the Board, in its discretion, determines, of the amount of the following fees or expenses of the claimant.

(3) Those fees or expenses are fees or expenses that, in the opinion of the Board, have been reasonably and necessarily incurred by the claimant in complying with the provisions of this Part or any rules under section 46 in relation to his or her relevant claim.

(4) If the assessment is accepted or deemed to be accepted, in accordance with this Part, by the claimant and the respondent or one or more of the respondents the Board shall direct that that respondent or those respondents shall pay to the claimant the amount specified in the statement.

(5) The statement shall indicate, in brief terms, the nature of the fees or expenses to which the amount specified in the statement relates; not later than 10 days before the expiry of the period mentioned in section 30 (2)(b) a respondent may request the Board to furnish to him or her such further details as he or she may reasonably specify in relation to the nature of those fees or expenses and the manner in which the foregoing amount was calculated by the Board and the Board shall comply with such a request.

(6) In this section “fees or expenses” do not include fees or expenses to which section 45 applies.

45. —(1) If a direction to the next friend or committee of the claimant of the kind referred to in subsection (3) of section 30 is included in a notice under that section that direction shall include the following statement.

(2) That statement is one to the effect that the Board will direct, if the assessment concerned is accepted by the claimant and accepted or deemed to be accepted by the respondent or one or more of the respondents, that the respondent or respondents who accept or are deemed to have accepted the assessment shall pay to the claimant, in addition to the amount of the assessment and any amount directed to be paid under section 44 , the whole of the fees or expenses reasonably incurred by the next friend or committee in complying with the direction referred to in subsection (1).

(3) If the assessment is accepted or deemed to be accepted, in accordance with this Part, by the claimant and the respondent or one or more of the respondents the Board shall direct that that respondent or those respondents shall pay to the claimant the whole of the fees or expenses referred to in subsection (2).

(4) If a direction under subsection (3) is given, and the respondent or respondents concerned and the next friend or committee of the claimant cannot agree as to what is the amount, for the purposes of this section, of the fees or expenses reasonably incurred by the next friend or committee in complying with the direction referred to in subsection (1), those fees and expenses shall be taxed by a Taxing Master of the High Court or, if the Board determines it would be more appropriate, having regard to the limited amounts involved, for a county registrar to do so and so directs, the county registrar for the circuit of the Circuit Court in which the respondent or any of the respondents concerned resides or carries on business.

(5) A reference in this Act to an amount specified in an order to pay shall, in so far as the reference relates to an amount the subject of a direction under subsection (3), be deemed to be a reference to the amount, as agreed between the parties concerned or taxed under subsection (4), in respect of the fees or expenses the subject of that direction.

46. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Board may make rules concerning the procedure to be followed under this Part in relation to—

(a) the making of applications under section 11 ,

(b) the making of assessments under section 20 , and

(c) matters consequential on, or incidental to the foregoing.

(2) Rules under this section shall enable the Board to supply a copy of any records or other documents furnished by a claimant or a respondent to it, pursuant to this Act or the exercise by it or any member of its staff of powers under this Act, to a respondent or, as the case may be, a claimant in relation to the relevant claim concerned.

(3) Rules under this section shall enable the Board (subject to rules under subsection (4)) to issue to a claimant a document (in this Act also referred to as an “authorisation”), in circumstances where the claimant is not otherwise authorised under a provision of this Act to bring proceedings in respect of his or her relevant claim, in either or both of the following cases, namely—

(a) section 18 (3) or (6) applies in respect of one or more of the respondents to the relevant claim and the claimant wishes to bring proceedings in respect of that claim against that respondent or those respondents (acting, unless he, she or they are no longer of unsound mind, by a guardian or a committee),

(b) the claimant wishes to bring proceedings in respect of his or her relevant claim against one or more persons whom he or she omitted, through a genuine oversight or ignorance of all of the facts relating to the matter, to specify in his or her application under section 11 as being a person or persons liable to him or her in respect of that claim.

(4) Rules under this section shall enable the Board to defer making a decision as to whether to issue an authorisation referred to in subsection (3) unless and until the relevant claim concerned has been the subject of an assessment or, as appropriate, a fresh assessment under this Act (which rules under this section may include a requirement for (but subject to those rules permitting the Board to waive that requirement where, due to lapse of time or other circumstances, compliance with that requirement would unduly interfere with the claimant's right to bring proceedings)).

(5) An authorisation referred to in subsection (3) shall state that the claimant is authorised to, and operate to authorise the claimant to, bring proceedings in respect of his or her relevant claim against the person or persons concerned and such an authorisation shall be in addition to any authorisation issued under another provision of this Act to the claimant.

47. —(1) A claimant may, in accordance with rules under section 46 , withdraw an application made by him or her under section 11 at any time before an assessment is made in respect of the relevant claim concerned and, where a claimant does so, the Board shall cause no step or no further step under this Part in relation to the claim to be taken.

(2) If such an application is so withdrawn the claimant may not, in relation to the relevant claim concerned, either—

(a) make a fresh application under section 11 , or

(b) bring proceedings.

(3) Where a claimant indicates that he or she wishes to withdraw an application made by him or her, the Board shall, by notice served on him or her, notify the claimant of the desirability of obtaining legal advice before withdrawing the application and the application shall not be regarded as withdrawn unless and until, 14 or more days having elapsed from the service of that notice, a withdrawal by the claimant, in the form specified by rules under section 46 , of the application is received by the Board.

48. —(1) Rules under section 46 may enable the Board to cause an assessment of a relevant claim referred to in subsection (2) to be made under section 20 on the joint application of the parties to the proceedings concerned and provide, with any necessary modifications, for the application of such provisions of this Act as, in the opinion of the Board, are necessary and expedient in relation to the making of such an assessment and the assessment so made.

(2) The relevant claim mentioned in subsection (1) is one the subject of proceedings brought before the commencement of section 6 .

49. —(1) It shall be the duty of the Board to ensure that assessments in respect of relevant claims are made as expeditiously as may be and, for that purpose, to take all such steps as are open to it to ensure that, in so far as is practicable, there are no avoidable delays at any stage in the making of assessments.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), it shall, subject to subsection (4), be the duty of the Board to ensure that every assessment is made within a period of 9 months beginning on (without prejudice to subsection (3))—

(a) if there is only one respondent as respects the relevant claim concerned, the date on which it receives the respondent's consent to an assessment being made under section 20 in relation to that claim,

(b) if there are 2 or more respondents as respects the relevant claim concerned—

(i) where only one of them consents to such an assessment being made in relation to that claim (irrespective of whether there is a failure of the kind mentioned in subsection (3) on the part of the other or others), the date on which it receives that consent,

(ii) where 2 or more of the respondents consent to such an assessment being made in relation to that claim (irrespective of whether there is a failure of the foregoing kind on the part of the other or others), the date it receives those consents or, if the dates on which it receives those consents are not the same, the earlier or earliest of the dates on which it receives one of those consents.

(3) If a failure of the kind referred to in section 14 (1)(b) occurs on the part of the respondent or, if there are 2 or more respondents as respects the relevant claim concerned, on the part of each of them the period of 9 months referred to in subsection (2) begins on the expiry of the period specified in the notice served under section 13 on the respondent or, as the case may be, each of the respondents.

(4) Where it appears to the Board that it would not be possible or appropriate, because of the particular circumstances of the relevant claim concerned, to make an assessment in respect of it within the period referred to in subsection (2), the Board shall, by notice in writing served on the claimant and the respondent or respondents before the expiration of that period, inform each of them of the reasons why it would not be possible or appropriate (as the case may be) to make the assessment within that period and shall specify the date before which the Board intends that the assessment shall be made; the date so specified shall not be a date that falls more than 6 months after the end of the period referred to in subsection (2).

(5) Where a notice has been served under subsection (4), the Board shall take all such steps as are open to it to ensure that the assessment is made before the date specified in the notice.

(6) If the assessment is not made before that date, then unless the claimant consents in writing to the Board's continuing to deal with the matter, it shall be the duty of the Board, as soon as may be after that date, to issue to the claimant a document that contains the statement and operates to have the effect mentioned in subsection (8).

(7) Such a document is also referred to in this Act as an “authorisation”.

(8) An authorisation under this section shall state that the claimant is authorised to, and operate to authorise the claimant to, bring proceedings in respect of his or her relevant claim.

50. —In reckoning any period of time for the purposes of any limitation period in relation to a relevant claim specified by the Statute of Limitations 1957 or the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991 , the period beginning on the making of an application under section 11 in relation to the claim and ending 6 months from the date of issue of an authorisation under, as appropriate, section 14 , 17, 32 or 36, rules under section 46 (3) or section 49 shall be disregarded.

51. —(1) An assessment made in respect of a relevant claim shall not be admissible in evidence in any proceedings between the claimant and the respondent or respondents in relation to the claim or be referred to in any originating document, pleadings, notice or affidavit relating to those proceedings.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the proceedings concerned are in connection with the enforcement of an assessment that has been accepted or deemed to be accepted in accordance with this Part by the claimant and the respondent or one or more of the respondents.