Southon & Ors v Gordon Plath on behalf of the Department of Environment and Climate Change

In the Supreme Court of Queensland, Southon and two others challenged a decision by the trial judge to not award costs following the withdrawal of a prosecution. The respondents, Gordon Plath on behalf of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, had prosecuted the appellants for environmental offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1994. The appellants sought to be awarded their costs after the withdrawal of the prosecution on the basis that the prosecution was frivolous or vexatious, and that the prosecutor had failed to properly investigate a relevant matter.

The central issue was whether the trial judge was correct in refusing to make a costs order following the withdrawal of the prosecution. This required the court to consider whether the prosecutor had failed to properly investigate a relevant matter and whether the decision of the trial judge to refuse to make a costs order fell outside the bounds of a sound discretionary ruling.

The court found that the trial judge had not erred in refusing to make a costs order as the appellants had not established that the prosecutor had failed to properly investigate a relevant matter. The court held that the decision of the trial judge did not fall outside the bounds of a sound discretionary ruling and that there was no basis to interfere with the decision of the trial judge. The appeal was dismissed.

The court made no orders as to costs.