P.R. Laws Ap. tit. 32A, § III, Rule 44.1
(a) To whom awarded. — Costs shall be allowed to the prevailing party, except when otherwise directed by law or by these rules. The costs which may be allowed by the court are those expenses necessarily incurred in prosecuting an action or proceeding which, according to law or to the discretion of the court, one of the parties should reimburse to the other.
(b) Within the term of ten (10) days after a copy of the service of the judgment is filed in the record of the case, the party claiming costs shall file with the court and serve upon the adversary party, a list or memorandum of all necessary expense and disbursement items incurred during the action or proceeding. The memorandum of costs shall be filed under oath, and shall state that to the claimant’s or his attorney’s best knowledge and belief the expense items included are correct, and that all the disbursements were needed for the handling of the action or proceeding. If there is no objection, the court shall approve the memorandum of costs, and may eliminate any item deemed inappropriate, after granting the applicant the opportunity to justify the same. Any party who disagrees with the costs thus claimed may object to the same, in whole or in part, within a term of ten (10) days from the day the memorandum of costs is served. The court, after considering both parties’ position, shall resolve the objection. The decision of the Court of First Instance may be reviewed by the Circuit Court of Appeals through a certiorari to be issued at its discretion, and not otherwise. The review of the decision shall be handled jointly with any other recourse that has been filed against the judgment, and if no recourse has been filed the decision on the costs may be appealed.
(c) On Appeal. — The party in whose behalf judgment is rendered on appeal, shall file a statement or memorandum of all the expense items and the necessary disbursements incurred for the processing of the appeal with the Court of First Instance that decided the case initially, and shall serve it upon the opposing party, within the jurisdictional term of ten (10) days after the remand, and pursuant to the criteria established in subsection (b) above, The memorandum of costs shall be filed under oath, and the objections shall be delineated and decided pursuant to Rule 44.1(b). The resolution issued by the Court of First Instance may be reviewed as provided in subsection (b). The resolution issued by the Circuit Court of Appeals may be reviewed through a certiorari before the Supreme Court.
(d) Attorney’s Fees. — In the event any party or its lawyer has acted obstinately or frivolously, the court shall, in its judgment, impose on such person the payment of a sum for attorney’s fees which the court decides corresponds to such conduct.
History —Amended on Dec. 30, 1986, No. 2, p. 859; Dec. 25, 1995, No. 249, § 13, eff. May 1, 1996.