As to the matter of attorneys' fees, Article 572 of the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure sets out the general rule that each party to the proceeding is directly responsible for the costs incurred for the acts carried out and requested by it. However, the rule also establishes that in the event of an order to pay costs, the losing party shall compensate the other for all the necessary costs it has caused. Indeed, Article 573 of the same Code sets out the general requirement that the Court, in the ruling concluding the proceeding, must sentence the losing party to payment of costs in favour of the other party. This requirement to pay costs entails exceptions in instances where judicial action has obviously been taken in good faith, where the claim or counterclaim involves exaggerated pretensions, where the judgement takes account solely of part of the fundamental pretensions of the claim or counterclaim, where defences of importance invoked by the losing party are admitted, where neither party wins or where the defendant accepts the claim.
Furthermore, Article 578 of the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedures specifies the following as being part of the reimbursable costs: the fees of the chief attorney, notaries, attorneys, experts, depositaries and administrators; as well as costs incurred for seizures, injunctions, orders, publications, certifications, inventories, entries in registers and compensation of witnesses for their time and travel costs. This rule makes it clear that judicial orders shall not entail personal costs other than travel expenses, payments for vehicles, transport and communications and purchases of substances or other articles necessary to ascertain a fact.
