Claim for reimbursement of costs and fees in case of litigation
in Norway
The Norwegian Civil Procedure Act has as a point of departure that the winning party in litigation should always collect the expenses from the looser. The lawyers are obliged to communicate during the hearing a detailed schedule what amount they will claim. There is limitation to what costs have been “necessary”. The courts are scrutinizing the cost schedules and it is not seldom to see that the amount being claimed is reduced for exceeding “necessary” limits.
The courts have also large liberties to excuse the looser of the responsibility for costs, - i.a. where the issue case has been held to be doubtful.
The biggest part of the cost claims are the advocates` fees, but there may also be fees for experts and other expenditures. The court fees are independent of the dispute value, but dependent on the duration of the hearing. In first instance it is now NOK 4.300,-, - 540 Euros, but with increasing charges if the hearing lasts more than one day. An appeal costs in itself NOK 20.640,-, 2.500 Euros, and also with increasing charges when the hearing lasts more than one day.
Cases with dispute value beneath NOK 125.000,-, 15.000 Euros, are considered “petty-cases”. For these cases there are special provisions to prevent that the claim for costs is not excessive in relation to the dispute value.