Making an Appeal to the Costs Judge in Crown Court Cases
Costs Judges have jurisdiction to hear appeals from the decisions of NTT Determining Officers in each of the following situations in the Crown Court:
- Appeals by parties awarded costs out of Central Funds (as to which see the Costs in Criminal Cases (General) Regulations 1986
- Appeals by solicitors and advocates entitled to remuneration under the Legal Aid Act 1988 (as to which see the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) Regulations 1989)
- Appeals by solicitors and advocates entitled to remuneration under the Access to Justice Act, 1999 and the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2001
- Appeals by solicitors and advocates entitled to remuneration under the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 (formerly the Crown Court Rules 1982 Part IV)
- Appeals by litigants in person having the benefit of costs orders under any of the above enactments.
Appeal does not lie to the Costs Judge by parties awarded costs out of Central Funds in the Magistrates Courts. If such parties remain dissatisfied with the costs awarded by the Determining Officer the only recourse is to seek judicial review of the determination in the High Court.
Detailed guidance as to the SCCO practice on criminal fee appeals and the procedure on further appeals to a High Court Judge is set out in the Practice Direction (Criminal Proceedings: Costs) and in the documents below.
At present there are five Costs Judges who deal with criminal fee appeals, namely Chief Master Hurst (Senior Costs Judge), Master Rogers, Master Campbell, Master Simons and Master Gordon-Saker.
The Notice of Appeal must be in writing and must be lodged with the Clerk of Appeals in the Supreme Court Costs Office, together with the fee (currently £100) and the additional material referred to in the Criminal Costs Practice Direction, within 21 days of receipt of the reasons given for the decision or within such longer time as the Costs Judge may direct; (under the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 the period is 14 days). Papers are lodged with the Clerk of Appeals in Room 2.14.
The Notice of Appeal should follow the Form A in Schedule 3 to the Criminal Costs Practice Direction.
It is important that the Notice of Appeal should clearly identify (i) the matters which are being appealed to the Costs Judge and (ii) the amount in dispute in relation to each item.
Appellants must ensure that they have the written reasons of the Determining Officer in respect of each item they wish to appeal. Where the Determing Officer has not not given written reasons, the Costs Judge has no jurisdiction on appeal.
Appellants should note that although the Costs Judgesdo have discretion to hear material in support of costs claimed, which was not put before the Determining Officer, this discretion is only exercised in exceptional circumstances.
Notices of Appeal must be signed by advocates personally or by a partner in the appellant firm of Solicitors.
It occasionally happens that appellants fail to serve the Determining Officer with a copy of the Notice of Appeal. The Regulations are mandatory in this respect and failure to do so may result in the appeal being dismissed without the merits being considered.
SCCO General Guide
Full guidance on making an appeal from decision of the Determining Officer to the Costs Judge will be found at section 31, page 153, of the SCCO Guide.
SCCO: Practice Direction as to Criminal Appeals (Word 39.50Kb)
This relates to appeals to a Costs Judge and to the High Court pursuant to the Costs in Criminal Cases (General) Regulations 1986, the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) Regulations 1989, the Crown Court Rules 1982 and the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2001