§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Attorney-General whether, having regard to costs in cases such as the recent High Court case affecting a charge of contempt of court against Sean Geraghty, which are estimated at £20,000 although only a few hours' legal work was involved, he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain how and in what way such costs can be reduced in support of the Government's policy of reducing public costs and inflation.
The Solicitor-GeneralThese costs were incurred by private and unassisted litigants and no confirmation can be given of the estimate in the question. Both as between party and party and between solicitor and client they may be examined at the request of the parties, or either of them, and reduced by an officer of the court known as a taxing master, to ensure that the amounts charged are reasonable. No other investigation is required, but no request for taxation has been received to date and the amount of costs of this kind may well be the subject of agreement between the parties who may wish to avoid the cost of taxation.