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Costs Rules

made under Sections 12 and 28 of the
Utility and Review Board Act
S.N.S. 1992, c. 11
N.S. Reg. 131/96 (July 17, 1996)

1 These rules are made pursuant to Sections 12 and 28 of the Utility and Review Board Act and apply to all proceedings before the Board except those under the Expropriation Act, the Planning Act, and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

2 These rules may be cited as the Costs Rules.

3 (1) The Board will not normally consider an award of costs unless at least one of the parties requests it.

(2) The Board may on its own motion ask a party whether it seeks costs where the Board feels that one party has acted improperly and the other party may be unaware of the right to request costs.

4 (1) The Board shall not make any order as to the payment of costs by either a party or counsel unless the person against whom the order is proposed to be made is given a reasonable opportunity to make representations to the Board.

(2) An award against counsel will only be made in extraordinary circumstances.

5 (1) The Board may award costs against a party whose conduct or course of conduct is found to be clearly unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious, having regard to all of the circumstances.

(2) Without placing any limitation on subsection (1), the Board may determine the following conduct to be clearly unreasonable, frivolous, or vexatious:

(a) where the action of a party or the failure of a party to act in a timely manner resulted in prejudice to any of the other parties;

(b) where an applicant or appellant fails to

(i) attend a hearing, or

(ii) [to] send a representative to a hearing;

(c) where a party has failed to co-operate with other parties during preliminary proceedings or the hearing;

(d) where a party's failure to comply with a procedural order or direction of the Board has resulted in prejudice to another party; or

(e) where a party has continued to deal with issues which the Board has advised it are irrelevant.

6 (1) The Board has no power to order intervenor funding or security for costs.

(2) The Board may consider awarding costs against a utility to non-profit, public interest intervenors with limited financial resources who

(a) have a substantial interest in the proceeding;

(b) will be affected by the proceeding;

(c) participate in the hearing in a responsible way; and

(d) contribute to a better understanding of the issues by the Board.

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