The Director of Public Prosecutions, R (on the application of) v Northampton Magistrates Court
[2024] EWHC 2324 (Admin)
Director of Public Prosecutions v Northampton Magistrates' Court
29 October 2024
[2024] EWHC 2860 (Admin)
High Court
The government (DPP) won a court case against a lower court's decision on who should pay legal costs. However, a higher court ruled that the government couldn't get its own legal costs back because the law doesn't allow it in this type of case. It's a bit of a loophole in the law.
Key Facts
- •Judicial review claim concerning a district judge's costs order in criminal proceedings.
- •Criminal proceedings were dismissed, and the district judge ordered costs against the prosecution.
- •The High Court upheld the judicial review claim, finding the district judge's approach to costs was wrong.
- •The question before the court was whether it had the power to award costs to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
- •The case involved competing interpretations of the Senior Courts Act 1981 and the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 regarding cost awards in criminal matters.
Legal Principles
In judicial review claims concerning criminal matters, there's a choice between two cost regimes: the criminal costs regime (Prosecution of Offences Act 1985) and the civil costs regime (Senior Courts Act 1981).
Murphy v Media Protection Services [2012] EWHC 529 (Admin), R (Bahbahani) v Ealing Magistrates’ Court [2019] EWHC 1385 (Admin), R (AB) v Uxbridge Youth Court [2023] EWHC 2951 (Admin), R (Morjaria) v Westminster Magistrates’ Court [2024] EWHC 178 (Admin)
The criminal costs regime applies unless exceptional circumstances exist.
Murphy v Media Protection Services [2012] EWHC 529 (Admin)
Section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 grants the court discretion over costs in High Court proceedings.
Senior Courts Act 1981, Section 51(1)(b)
Section 28A of the Senior Courts Act 1981 allows the High Court to make orders, including cost orders, in cases stated from magistrates’ courts.
Senior Courts Act 1981, Section 28A
Section 17 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 deals with prosecution costs, but excludes orders in favour of public authorities.
Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, Section 17
The Hargreaves case is distinguishable as it concerned appeals by way of case stated, where only one costs scheme was available.
Hargreaves v Powys County Council [2023] EWHC 13 (Admin)
Outcomes
The court ruled it lacked the power to award costs to the DPP.
The case did not present exceptional circumstances to warrant departing from the standard application of the criminal costs regime under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. The existing legal framework doesn't permit cost awards to public authority prosecutors in these circumstances.
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