Costs

Costs

Crown Court - appeal against sentence - power to make or vary order requiring defendant to pay prosecutor's costs before justicesJohnson v Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: DC (Schiemann LJ and Douglas Brown J): 4 April 2000

Following her conviction for 19 offences of causing unnecessary suffering to animals, the defendant was ordered by justices to pay 260 towards the prosecutor's costs.

On appeal against sentence, the Crown Court ordered her to pay 28,500 in costs to the prosecutor.

The defendant appealed by way of case stated.Martin Russell (instructed by Moss Beachley Mullem & Coleman) for the defendant.

Robert Davies (instructed by Wansbroughs, Devizes) for the prosecutor.Held, dismissing the appeal, that although neither party had a right of appeal against a costs order made by justices, the Crown Court's power under s.18(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 when dismissing an appeal to make 'such order as to costs to be paid by the accused to the prosecutor as it considers just and reasonable' was wide enough to give it jurisdiction to make an order as to costs incurred before conclusion of the proceedings before the justices; that in any event the Crown Court's power under s.48(2) of the Supreme Court Act 1981 to vary 'any part of the decision appealed against' enabled it even to vary part of the decision not appealed against by the defendant; and that, in the usual case, the Crown Court should hesitate to modify a costs order of justices who were better placed than the Crown Court to decide how much of costs of proceedings before them the prosecution should recover, and prosecutors proposing to ask the Crown Court to vary such a costs order should so inform the defendant in detail in writing well before the appeal hearing, so that the defendant was directed to the consequences of pursuing his appeal; otherwise the Crown Court would generally be expected not to interfere with the costs order.