Official Prosecutions (Accused's Costs) Act 1973 (WA)
Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia
Official Prosecutions (Accused’s Costs) Act 1973This Act may be cited as the
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by proclamation.
(1) Except as otherwise provided by this section, this Act applies notwithstanding the provisions of or under any other Act, or of or under any rule of court practice.
(2) To the extent of any inconsistency between a provision of this Act and a provision of or under any other Act, or of or under any rule of court practice, the provision which is more favourable to the accused prevails.
(3) This Act binds the Crown.
(1) In this Act unless the contrary intention appears —
(a) are properly incurred by an accused in an official prosecution; and
(b) are due and payable, or paid, by the accused to another person or as court fees;
(2) An accused —
(a) subject to paragraph (c), is successful if —
(i) he is acquitted of the charge, other than on account of mental impairment;
(ii) he is discharged from the charge under section 128(2) or (3) of the
Criminal Procedure Act 2004 ;(iii) the charge is dismissed for want of prosecution; or
(iv) his conviction of the charge is set aside;
(b) is partly successful if —
(i) he is convicted of a lesser offence than that with which he was charged; or
(ii) he is charged with several offences in the one prosecution notice and is successful in respect of one or some of them;
(c) is not successful if the charge is of an indictable offence and is dismissed for want of prosecution by the summary court —
(i) if section 5 of
The Criminal Code applies to the charge — before the summary court decides under that section that the charge is to be tried on indictment; or(ii) otherwise — before the summary court commits him for trial or sentence on the charge.
(1) Subject to this Act, a successful accused is entitled to his costs.
(2) Where an accused is successful by reason of a decision of the summary court only, the summary court shall make an order as to the amount of his costs therein but the accused is not entitled to those costs unless and until the time for appeal therefrom has expired or an appeal therefrom is resolved in his favour.
(3) Where an accused is successful by reason of a decision of the appeal court, the appeal court shall make an order as to the amount of his costs in the appeal court.
(4) Where an accused is successful by reason of the appeal court reversing a decision of the summary court, the appeal court shall make an order as to the amount of the costs in the appeal court and in the summary court.
(5) The amount of costs ordered, other than court fees, shall be in accordance with the scale fixed from time to time by a legal costs determination made under the
Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022 section 133.
The court may order that a successful accused is not entitled to his costs or part thereof if —
(a) the court, having found the accused guilty, disposes of the charge without recording a conviction;
(b) he has done or caused to be done or has omitted or caused to be omitted something (other than an act or omission the subject of the charge) which was unreasonable in the circumstances and which contributed to the institution or continuation of the proceedings; or
(c) he has done or caused to be done or has omitted or caused to be omitted something during the course of proceedings or in the conduct of the defence or appeal calculated to prolong the proceedings unnecessarily or cause unnecessary expense.
(1) Subject to this Act, where a partly successful accused satisfies the court that he incurred additional costs by reason of being charged with an offence or offences in respect of which he was successful, the court may order that he is entitled to those costs.
(2) Before exercising the discretion conferred by subsection (1), the court may have regard to any of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) inclusive of section 6 that exist in the case of the partly successful accused.
(3) Where the court makes an order pursuant to subsection (1), subsections (2) to (5) inclusive of section 5 apply to and in relation to the order with such modifications as are necessary.
The court may adjourn to chambers the question of costs, or the amount thereof, under this Act to enable the making of submissions and the tendering of evidence, including affidavit evidence, on that question.
Where costs are ordered under this Act —
(a) if the public official a party to the proceedings is a Minister of the Crown, a person employed in the Public Service of the State, a member of the Police Force, or any other person acting as agent of or under the instructions of such a person, the Clerk or Registrar, as the case requires, of the court shall give to the accused a certificate signed by the Clerk or sealed with the Seal of the court, as the case requires, showing the amount of the costs ordered and on production of the certificate to the Treasurer, the accused shall be paid such costs out of the Consolidated Account; or
(b) if the public official a party to the proceedings is a person employed by a local government or any other statutory body, or is any other person acting as agent of or under the instructions of such a person or body, the costs shall be ordered against that body and shall be paid by it to the accused, and shall be recoverable as a civil debt.
This is a compilation of the
46 of 1973 | 6 Nov 1973 | 25 Jan 1974 (see s. 2 and | |
7 of 1974 | 19 Sep 1974 | 8 Nov 1974 (see s. 2 and | |
65 of 1987 | 1 Dec 1987 | 12 Feb 1988 (see s. 2(2) and | |
49 of 1988 | 22 Dec 1988 | 1 Dec 1989 (see s. 2 and | |
15 of 1991 | 21 Jun 1991 | 9 Aug 1991 (see s. 2(2) and | |
6 of 1993 | 27 Aug 1993 | 1 Jul 1993 (see s. 2(1)) | |
78 of 1995 | 16 Jan 1996 | 4 Nov 1996 (see s. 2 and | |
14 of 1996 | 28 Jun 1996 | 1 Jul 1996 (see s. 2) | |
29 of 1997 | 26 Sep 1997 | 26 Sep 1997 (see s. 2) | |
65 of 2003 | 4 Dec 2003 | 1 Jan 2004 (see s. 2 and | |
59 of 2004 | 23 Nov 2004 | 1 May 2005 (see s. 2 and | |
84 of 2004 | 16 Dec 2004 | 2 May 2005 (see s. 2 and | |
77 of 2006 | 21 Dec 2006 | 1 Feb 2007 (see s. 2 and | |
2 of 2008 | 12 Mar 2008 | 27 Apr 2008 (see s. 2 and | |
21 of 2008 | 27 May 2008 | 1 Mar 2009 (see s. 2(b) and | |
9 of 2022 | 14 Apr 2022 | 1 Jul 2022 (see s. 2(c) and SL 2022/113 cl. 2) | |
10 of 2023 | 13 Apr 2023 | 1 Sep 2024 (see s. 2(b) and SL 2024/175 cl. 2) | |
accused.......................................................................................................................... 4(1)
appeal............................................................................................................................ 4(1)
appeal court.................................................................................................................. 4(1)
costs............................................................................................................................... 4(1)
court............................................................................................................................... 4(1)
official prosecution..................................................................................................... 4(1)
public official............................................................................................................... 4(1)
section........................................................................................................................... 4(1)
summary court............................................................................................................. 4(1)
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