Bolton v Stange

In the case of Bolton v Stange, the plaintiff, Bolton, sought a review of a decision made by a Magistrate not to award costs to the defendant, Stange, who was successful in their defence. The defendant was represented by the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Incorporated during the proceedings. The crux of the case lay in determining whether the court was obligated to award costs to the defendant under the Official Prosecutions (Defendants Costs) Act 1973 (WA) given the solicitor-client relationship that exists between a represented accused person and their legal practitioner.

The court had to decide whether the statutory presumption of a solicitor-client relationship mandated the awarding of costs to the defendant. The relevant sections of the Act in question were sections 3(2), 4, and 5, which imposed an obligation on the court to assume such a relationship and award costs unless it was proven otherwise. The court also considered the applicability of the decision in Hudgson v Endrust (Australia) Pty Ltd, where it was established that the mere representation of a party by a legal practitioner could lead to the presumption of a solicitor-client relationship.

The court ruled that the presumption of a solicitor-client relationship between the defendant and their legal representative was sufficient to trigger the obligation to award costs under the Act. Consequently, the court found that the Magistrate's decision not to award costs was in error, and the defendant was entitled to have their costs paid. The court's reasoning was grounded in the statutory language and the established legal precedent that reinforced the presumption of a solicitor-client relationship in such circumstances. The court ordered that the defendant be awarded their costs as per the Act.