Award of Third-Party Funding (“TPF”) Costs in Arbitral Proceedings: A Review of the English Case of Essar Oilfields Services Limited V.Norscot Rig Management Pvt Limited (2016) EWHC 2361 (Comm)
Generally, under the adversarial system of adjudication in Nigeria, a successful party may be entitled to costs subject to the prevailing Rules of Court and other underlying principles of law.
The award of costs is to indemnify the rightful party either for expenses, time and/or effort dissipated in a matter before the Court or other Tribunals. The practice on award of costs is also recognised and applicable in arbitration proceedings. Under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (“ACA”), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2014, the costs which an Arbitral Tribunal may award include the Arbitral Tribunal fees, travel and other expenses incurred by the Arbitrators, cost of expert advice, travel and other expenses of witnesses, cost oflegal representation and assistance of the successful party, provided that such costs were claimed during arbitral proceedings.
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