High Court (Fees and Allowances) (Amendment) Rules, 2025 (No. 27)

These rules amend the First Schedule to the High Court (Fees and Allowances) Rules, 2000 and introduce a new unit of billing: "unit" is defined as ten minutes or part of it.

Part II, attendance, now allows US$10 for each unit spent in attendance by a legal practitioner, US$10 for a formal attendance, letter, notice or document by a practitioner, and US$5 for a formal attendance by a practitioner's employee.

Part III allows US$10 for each unit of necessarily incurred travelling or waiting time before or after attendance in court or at an inspection in loco, pre-trial conference or taxation, or between court attendances; and US$20 for each unit spent appearing in court or at an inspection in loco, during a trial or pre-trial conference or on taxation.

Part IV, preparation, allows US$25 for each unit spent preparing for the hearing of an opposed matter or a pre-trial conference, and for argument where the court requests it in an unopposed matter, except where another practitioner's fees are allowed.

Part V, drafting, allows US$25 a folio for drafting any process, pleading, application, affidavit, instruction to another practitioner, witness statement, non-formal letter, bill of costs or other document, subject to a minimum of US$20 where the document is a summons, plea, claim in reconvention, request for further particulars, set of further particulars or affidavit. In computing folios the taxing officer deducts — but treats as material copied — quotations from other documents, formal headings and endings, and matter available from the prescribed forms.

Moving from hourly to ten-minute units changes how bills are drawn as much as the rates do, since short attendances now round up to a smaller increment.