No Opt-Out Fee!!

As part of the recent amendment by the Preparatory Committee of Rule 370 of Procedure which deals with Court Fees and Recoverable Costs voted on 25th February 2016, it appears from the draft* published on the UPC website that there will be no fee for the opt-out! 

In fact, the Committee explains that processing the opt-out fee would generate an administrative cost for the Court. The Preparatory Committee being cautious of not burdening the applicant with a heavy fee for the opt-out, it therefore decided to remove the fee so as to remove the cost for the Court. The Committee also explains that having a no fee policy for the opt-out “also eliminates the problem of how to process payments particularly during provisional application.”

The decision not to charge for opt-outs seems also to have been motivated by the clear consensus on this issue which appeared in the different public consultations on the necessity to remove or lower the opt-out fee ” to reflect the commitment made by the Preparatory Committee that the fees for both the opt-out and its withdrawal are set to reclaim administrative costs only and that the Court would not profit from either of these.”