A Crown Court hearing an appeal from a magistrates' court had jurisdiction to order an unsuccessful appellant to pay the prosecutor sums by way of costs which the magistrates had refused to award to the prosecutor, but should hesitate before doing so. In the usual case, the magistrates would be far better placed than the Crown Court to decide how much of the costs of legal proceedings before them the prosecution should recover.

DC (Schiemann LJ, Douglas Brown J)

04/04/2000