The defendant challenged a conviction where the magistrates had not heard from him. The magistrates were not reprsented at the appeal.
Held: The appela was successful, but the court declined to award costs against the magistrates: ‘So far as costs against the justices are concerned, it has been the practice not to grant costs against justices or tribunals merely because they have made a mistake in law but only if they have acted improperly, that is to say, perversely or with some disregard for the elementary principles which every court ought to obey, and even then only if it was a flagrant instance.’ It is the general practice not to award costs against a party who did not appear to resist an application of this sort unless, for instance, he had materially contributed to the error giving rise to the application.
Judges:
Lord Parker CJ, Ashworth Salmon JJ
Citations:
[1960] 1 WLR 587
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina on the Application of Davies (No 2) v HM Deputy Coroner for Birmingham CA 27-Feb-2004
The claimant appealed against a costs order. She had previously appealed against an order of the High Court on her application for judicial review of the inquest held by the respondent.
Held: The coroner, and others in a similar position . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Magistrates, Costs
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.194533