| (1) |
Any party may, at any time before or during the hearing of any proceedings, by written notice and without prejudice to his or her rights, make an offer to settle to any other party. |
| (2) |
Subject to any order of the Court to the contrary and unless the offer provides otherwise, the party that made the offer will be liable for the costs of the party that accepted the offer up to the date of receipt of the offer. |
| (3) |
The party to whom the offer is made may accept the offer— |
| (a) |
within ten days of receipt of the notice, if the offer was made not less than fifteen days prior to the hearing of the proceedings; |
| (b) |
within seventy-two hours of receipt of the notice, if the offer was made later than fifteen days, but not less than five days prior to the hearing of the proceedings; or |
| (c) |
within twenty-four hours of receipt of the notice, if the offer was made later than five days prior to the hearing of the proceedings but before the termination of the hearing. |
After expiry of the periods concerned, the offer may be accepted only with the consent of the party that made the offer or of the Court. Acceptance of the offer will, subject to the provisions of these rules, suspend all further proceedings.
| (4) |
Should the offer not be accepted and should the Court decide the case in a manner which is less advantageous to the non-accepting party than that contained in the offer— |
| (a) |
the Court must, unless there is good reason to order otherwise, order the non-accepting party to pay the costs of the party that made the offer incurred after receipt of the notice containing the offer; and |
| (b) |
the Court may make an order which it considers just in respect of costs incurred before receipt of the notice containing the offer. |
| (5) |
An offer may not be disclosed to the Court before judgment is given and may not be placed on the file in the Registrar's office containing the documents relating to the case. |
| (6) |
The Court may make an order for costs against any party that mentioned or disclosed an offer in contravention of subrule (5). |
| (7) |
Any party may apply to the Court within ten days for the reconsideration of any order for costs made in ignorance of an offer. |
Statistics Act, 1999
