R v Allison

The case of R v Allison involved a dispute regarding the costs awarded to the respondent, Eion Murray Allison, in relation to his District Court appearances. The appeal by the Solicitor-General to the High Court was allowed, resulting in the quashing of the District Court's costs judgment and the direction for the Ministry of Justice to pay for Mr. Allison’s costs. However, it was later discovered that the scale costs calculated by the Court were in error. The errors included using an incorrect half-day rate and an incorrect multiplier for the number of half days involved. Consequently, Mr. Allison applied for the correction of the costs award under the Criminal Procedure Rules 2012.

The central legal issues the court needed to decide were whether the errors in the costs calculations were indeed accidental slips or omissions and, if so, whether the corrected amount of $2938 was a just and reasonable sum to be awarded towards Mr. Allison’s defence costs. The court also had to consider whether Mr. Allison's behaviour during the proceedings warranted a reduction in the awarded costs.

The court found that the errors in the costs calculations were indeed accidental slips, as evidenced by the incorrect half-day rate and the incorrect multiplier for the number of half days. While the submissions regarding the momentary nature of some appearances and the defendant’s behaviour were considered, the court concluded that the corrected amount of $2938 was a just and reasonable sum towards Mr. Allison’s defence costs. The court took into account the statutory requirement to consider the defendant’s behaviour but ultimately determined that the full corrected amount was appropriate.

The court ordered that the previous direction for the Ministry of Justice to pay $339 in costs be corrected to now read that $2938 in costs, along with a disbursement of $1874.40, be paid by the Ministry of Justice to Mr. Allison.