The Appellant was the owner of premises which she let to another party for use as a club. The other party was charged with 10 offences relating to the supply of liquor at the premises and the Appellant was joined to show cause why the club should not be struck off the register. After the hearing, the justices were informed that the costs of the prosecution amounted to 21 guineas. They convicted the manager, fined him andpound;10 and ordered him to pay 20 guineas costs, and also ordered the appellant to pay andpound;100 costs and they ordered the club to be struck off the register.
Held: The appeal by way of motion for certiorari suceeded. Costs are to be awarded as compensation, not as punishment. The order against the Appellant was a penalty in the guise of costs.
Lord Goddard CJ said: ‘I regret that any bench of justices could have acted as these justices did. They were not imposing costs on the applicant; they were imposing a penalty on her when she had not been convicted of any offence, but had only come before the court to show cause why the premises should not be struck off the register. Under the guise of making an order for costs, the justices inflicted a penalty of andpound;100, which could only have been intended as a penalty. Since, by their order against [the manager], they had satisfied the costs of the prosecution apart from one guinea certiorari will go…’
Judges:
Lord Goddard CJ
Citations:
[1954] 1 All ER 406, [1954] 1 WLR 485
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Prasannan v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Admn 25-Feb-2010
The appellant challenged an order to pay costs summarily assessed at andpound;20,000.
Held: The order was not a penalty and was within the discretion of the district judge. The appeal failed. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Magistrates, Costs
Updated: 02 May 2022; Ref: scu.401963