Practice Direction (Costs: Acquittal of Defendant)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE |
| Judgment Date | 05 November 1981 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1981] EWCA Crim J1105-1 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) |
| Date | 05 November 1981 |
[1981] EWCA Crim J1105-1
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
The Lord Chief Justice of England (Lord Lane)
and
Mr. Justice Skinner
PRACTICE DIRECTION
AWARD OF COSTS TO DEFENDANTS IN CRIMINAL CASES
The Practice Direction issued on the 5th June 1973, (1973) 1 W.L.R. 718; (1973) 2 All E.R. 592, is withdrawn and the following Practice Direction substituted:
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1. The principal power of the Crown Court to order the payment of the costs of an acquitted defendant either out of central funds under section 3 of the Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1973 or by the prosecutor under section 4 of that Act is limited to those cases in which the accused is acquitted on all counts in the indictment.
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2. There is a subsidiary and unrestricted power under section 5 of the Indictments Act 1915 to order the prosecutor or the defendant to pay any costs incurred as a result of an amendment to or the severance of an indictment.
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3. The exercise of those powers is in the unfettered discretion of the Court in the light of the circumstances of each particular case.
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4. It should be accepted as normal practice that an order should normally be made for the payment of the costs of an acquitted defendant out of central funds under section 3 of the 1973 Act unless there are positive reasons for making a different order. Examples of such reasons are:
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(a) Where the prosecution has acted spitefully or has instituted or continued proceedings without reasonable cause, the defendant's costs should be paid by the prosecutor under section 4 of the 1973 Act.
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(b) Where the defendant's own conduct has brought suspicion on himself and has misled the prosecution into thinking that the case against him is stronger than it is, the defendant can be left to pay his own costs.
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(c) Where there is ample evidence to support a conviction but the defendant is acquitted on a technicality which has no merit. Here again the defendant can be left to pay his own costs.
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5. This Practice Direction is to take effect from 16th November, 1981.
The above-mentioned Practice Direction was issued by the Lord Chief Justice on 5th November. The principal change from the 1973 Practice Direction referred to is that the power to award costs to an acquitted defendant is limited to cases in which the accused is acquitted on all counts in the indictment.
The Practice Direction also refers to the Court's powers under the Indictments Act 1915.
The Indictments Act 1915 empowers the Court to make orders for costs under both sections 5 and 6.
Section 5 provides that the Court may make such order for costs as it thinks fit where, either before or at the trial, it orders –
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(i) that a defective indictment...
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Practice Direction (Crime: Costs)
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Hunter v Crown Court at Newcastle upon Tyne
...the light of the conduct and outcome of the trial itself: see guidance given by the Practice Direction (Costs: Acquittal of Defendant) [1981] 1 WLR 1383. It follows that all such decisions are so intimately bound up with the trial process that they must be treated as an integral part of it......
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R (DPP) v Sheffield Crown Court Peter Barry Goodison and Another (Interested Parties)
...and the defence, and in the light of the conduct and the outcome of the trial itself: see the guidance given by the Practice Direction (Costs: Acquittal of Defendant) [1981] 1 W.L.R. 1383. It follows that all such decisions are so intimately bound up with the trial process that they must be......
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...and the defence, and in the light of the conduct and the outcome of the trial itself: see the guidance given by the Practice Direction (Costs: Acquittal of Defendant) [1981] 1 W.L.R. 1383. It follows that all such decisions are so intimately bound up with the trial process that they must be......