Who Pays for Trial Costs? Tips and Examples
Trial costs play an important role in legal proceedings that go to court. Parties who file a lawsuit or participate in a lawsuit want to know who will cover the costs. Here are detailed explanations and tips on who will pay for the trial costs.
1. What is Covered by Trial Costs?
Trial costs include all costs incurred from the filing of a lawsuit to its conclusion. These costs include:
Fees: Court fees to be paid for procedures such as filing a lawsuit and appeals.
Attorney Fees: Fees for the attorney pursuing the case.
Witness and Expert Fees: Fees paid to people or experts who testify in court.
Postal Costs: Costs incurred for notifications sent by the court.
Discovery Costs: Fees paid by the court for on-site examinations or discoveries.
2. Who Pays for Trial Costs?
Loser of the Case: As a general rule, the losing party pays the litigation costs. The principle of “the one who pays the costs is the one who loses the case” applies in the Turkish Legal System. For example, if the person who files a compensation lawsuit loses the case, the defendant must pay all litigation costs incurred by the party.
Winner of the Case: The winning party may claim the costs incurred from the losing party. For example, a landlord who is proven right in a rental dispute may claim the expert and attorney fees he paid from the tenant.
Partial Right: If both parties are proven right in the case in part, the litigation costs are shared. For example, if one of the parties in a divorce case is proven right in some of their demands and wrong in the other, the costs are shared proportionally.
3. Exceptions in the Payment of Trial Costs
Legal Aid Requests: Persons with insufficient financial means may request legal aid from the court. If legal aid is accepted, they are exempted from court fees and other litigation costs throughout the case. However, if they lose the case, they are not exempted from the costs to be paid to the other party. For example, if a low-income person files a lawsuit based on a rental agreement, they can avoid paying the fees by applying for legal aid.
Conciliation and Agreement Cases: In case the parties reach a settlement, an agreement can be reached on the trial costs. For example, if the parties reach a settlement in a commercial dispute case, they can decide to share the costs.
4. In Which Cases is the Attorney Fee Paid?
The attorney fee is a fee paid to the attorney of the winning party in the case and is usually covered by the losing party. However, depending on the special agreements made between the attorneys of the parties, the attorney fee may be an expense that the parties can impose on each other or cover.
Attorney Fee According to the Type of Case: Attorney fees vary in different types of cases. For example, attorney fees are generally higher in commercial cases, while they are at more reasonable levels in family law cases.
5. Right to Object to Trial Costs
The parties may object to the trial costs determined by the court. For example, if the court determines that an expert was overpaid, the parties may object to this decision and request that the amount paid be reduced. In this case, a reassessment of the trial costs may be requested by applying to a higher court.
6. Collection of Trial Expenses through Enforcement
The winning party may initiate enforcement proceedings against the opposing party who has not paid the trial costs. For example, when the defendant fails to pay the costs in a compensation case, the winning party may apply to the enforcement office to collect these costs.
Case Studies
Divorce Case: In the divorce case between Ali and Ayşe, Ali was found to be wrong regarding the alimony request. The court ruled that Ali should pay the trial costs. Ayşe was able to claim the attorney’s fee and expert expenses she paid from Ali.
Rent Dispute: A property owner won an eviction case against his tenant. The court ruled that the entire expert and postal expenses paid by the property owner should be covered by the tenant.
