Crown Courts
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838404800101 |
| Date | 01 February 1984 |
| Published date | 01 February 1984 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CROWN
COURTS
WHEN
ARE
COSTS
"INCURRED"
BY A
DEFENDANT?
R. v. Miller
Section 3( 1) of the Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1973 provides that
where aperson tried on indictment in the Crown
Court
is acquitted,
that court may
order
the payment
out
of
central funds of the costs of
the defence. These costs are declared to be such sums as
are
reasonably sufficient
"to
compensate
...
the accused, for the
expenses properly incurred by him in carrying on the proceedings".
The
defendant in R. v. Miller r1983]1
WLR.
1056 was acquitted in
the Crown
Court
of an affray and the
judge
ordered
the payment
out
of central funds of his costs.
The
solicitors who acted for him and
who
appeared
on the record as his solicitors submitted a bill of costs,
but the taxing authority
and
the taxing master both rejected the
claim on the ground that, as the
defendant's
employers had agreed
that
they would be primarily liable for his costs, it was never
realistically anticipated that he would be personally liable for costs,
so that it could not be said
that
the costs were
"incurred
by" him,
undersection 3(3)(a) of the Act.
On appeal to the High Court, however, it was held
that
costs
are
"incurred
by"
a
defendant
if he is responsible for their payment.
Where aperson is proved to be a party to the proceedings
and
is the
client of the solicitors on the record, it is to be presumed
that
he isso
liable. How, then, may
that
presumption be
rebutted?
In the
opinion of the court, this can be
done
only by clearly establishing an
agreement
binding on the solicitors
that
they would
not
seek costs
from theirclient. Here, it was established that it was the
defendant's
employers who were
"expected"
to pay the bill. If that sufficed to
deprive him of his costs, it would equally suffice if it were his
trade
union or his insurance company
or
even
the
Legal Aid fund which
was
"expected"
to pay.
The
court declined to accept the view that
costs
"incurred
by"
a
defendant
are
limited to those costs which
are
"paid
by"
him. Thus, an
agreement
whereby
another
person
1
To continue reading
Request your trial