A Comparative Study of Rules of Recovery of Cost and Fee in Civil Procedure, in Iranian, English and American Law

There are two rules regarding the party of procedure to whom the recovery of costs and fees of civil procedure should be imposed: the “American rule” which states that every side has to bear its own cost and fee in civil procedure, and the “English rule” according to which the loser party has to pay the prevailing party. The latter is preferred because of its access to reasonable justice, the right of litigation and the rights and duties rising from it. Compensation of attorney’s fee to the extent of attempts made by the attorney of the prevailing party, which is common in places like Scotland, has more compatibility with the justice and existing realities. The Iranian civil procedure code has adopted a separate and borderline state of both rules by accepting the "causation rule" and "negligence" as the basis. The obligations and conditions of the Iranian civil procedure code are designed so strictly that not only the attorney’s fee but also the costs and fees of the prevailing party are impossible to be reimbursed.