My husband has just been found not guilty in court and was awarded all his costs. The case lasted two days, and he also had to appear in court to answer bail on three occasions, so he claimed for five days’ loss of earnings. However the clerk of the court told us the regulations didn’t allow this. What are these regulations?
Section 16 of the Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 deals with defendants’ costs orders and the amount of money deemed reasonably sufficient to compensate those acquitted for any expenses incurred by them in the proceedings. Two “practice notes” state that compensation will include costs incurred in the proceedings in the lower courts, but that this cannot include expenses which are not directly related to the proceedings themselves, such as loss of earnings.