More criminals paying the costs of their own prosecutions

Tuesday 01 March 2016

More convicted criminals are being asked to pay towards the cost of their prosecutions, rather than leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab.

More applications are being made in court to seek orders against people convicted of criminal offences – unless they can’t afford to pay, or unless the circumstances of the case mean that a court is unlikely to grant an application.

A similar scheme has been running in England and Wales for some time, and although the law has allowed the Attorney General to seek payment towards prosecution costs since 1961, the power has been used more regularly recently.

A statement from the Law Officer’s department said: “The policy of the Attorney General is to apply for costs against convicted defendants unless a particular circumstance of the case means that the application would lack merit or that an order for costs would be impractical, for example, if there is no ability to pay.

“The Attorney General thinks that it is important that convicted defendants should contribute towards the costs of bringing them to justice, rather than full costs of their prosecution being borne by the public of Jersey.”

Costs orders have been sought in recent years, but lawyers say that the policy of asking for costs orders is being followed more regularly.

Neville Benbow, the Chief Executive Officer of the Law Society of Jersey, said that there was a principle of fairness behind the orders.

He said: “The judicial process is costly and one might argue that it is not unreasonable for some of those who have broken the law to be asked to contribute to those costs. If you break the law and you are prosecuted, should you pay for those costs or should we all pay?”