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B-40342.2 1 (1981-10-21)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabkft0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 OPV.C8 OF GENERAL COUNSEL (ctober { IA8 B-40342.2 Mr. Stephen L. Babcock Executive Director, Administrative Conference of the United States 2120 L Street, N.W. Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20037 Dear Mr. Babcock: We have received a copy of your August 28, 1981, letter addressed to Mr. Judd Kutcher, Administrative Office of the United States Courts, concerning the effect of section 207 of the Equal Access to Justice Act. The question you raise is whether section 207 will bar the use of the permanent judgment appropriation, 31 U.S.C. § 724a, for the payment of court costs which were already authorized before enactment of the Equal Access to Justice Act. While no one has yet requested a formal decision on the point, the issue is certainly one we will have to consider. Our preliminary view is that section 207 should not affect the payment of awards authorized by pre-existing statutes. The problem may be outlined as follows: (1) Prior to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 authorized courts to award costs against the United States, as enumerated in 28 U.S.C. § 1920, but not including attorney's fees. Costs awarded under 28 U.S.C. § 2412 are to be paid as provided in section 2414 and section 2517 of this title for the payment of judgments against the United States - that is, they are paid, upon certification by the General Accounting Office, from the permanent appropriation for judgments contained in 31 U.S.C. § 724a. (2) The Equal Access to Justice Act, Title II of Public Law 96-481, was enacted on October 21, 1980, and became effective on October 1, 1981. Its purpose is to authorize the awarding of attorney's fees and expenses in a variety of situations, both administrative and judicial, where such awards had been previously unauthorized under the so-called American rule. The new law dealt with judicial awards by amending 28 U.S.C. § 2412. The amended version re-enacted the existing provisions dealing with court costs, and added new sections to cover attorney's fees. (3) Section 207 of the Act provides: The payment of judgments, fees and other expenses in the same manner as the payment of final judgments as provided in this Act is effective only to the extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in appropriations Acts.

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