Victorian Consolidated Regulations Victorian Consolidated Regulations(1) Where in a proceeding for debt or damages the plaintiff recovers by judgment or otherwise an amount (exclusive of costs) not exceeding one‑half of the amount of the jurisdictional limit of the Magistrates' Court in a civil proceeding (at the time the proceeding commenced), the plaintiff shall, unless the Court otherwise orders, be entitled only to the costs to which the plaintiff would have been entitled if the plaintiff had brought the proceeding in the Magistrates' Court less an amount equal to the additional costs properly incurred by the defendant by reason of the proceeding having been brought in the County Court instead of the Magistrates' Court, but shall not be required to pay to the defendant any amount by which the additional costs exceed the costs payable to the plaintiff.
(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1), the amount which a plaintiff recovers by judgment or otherwise shall include any amount which under section 66(1) of the Workers Compensation Act 1958 as amended by the Workers Compensation (Actions) Act 1981 and in force for the time being or pursuant to section 79(3) of the Workers Compensation Act 1958 as in force immediately before the commencement of the Workers Compensation (Actions) Act 1981 is deducted from the amount for which the plaintiff would, but for the deduction, be entitled to judgment.
(3) Paragraph (1) does not apply where a claim of the defendant against the plaintiff for the recovery of a debt or damages is set off against the claim of the plaintiff under Rule 13.14 and the amount for which the plaintiff would, but for the set-off and any deduction of the kind referred to in paragraph (2), be entitled to judgment exceeds one-half of the amount of the jurisdictional limit of the Magistrates' Court in a civil proceeding.