At the end of November, an amendment was made to the Administrative Violations and Sanctions Act, which stipulates that the parties are entitled to costs. This is a long-sought and anticipated change. In this way, persons who have been issued a penal order will be able to claim reimbursement of the costs incurred for a lawyer’s or legal counsel. So far, the only method of recovery has been claiming these under a separate claim after winning the initial court case.
In order to claim and reimburse the costs, they must have been actually incurred before the last court hearing and evidence of their amount and payment should be provided in a manner similar to civil and administrative proceedings.
If the lawyer’s remuneration paid by the party is excessive in accordance with the actual legal and factual complexity of the case, the court may, at the request of the opposite party, award a lower part of their costs but not less than the minimum amount determined, in accordance with Art. 36 of the Law on the Bar.