Defence costs are the cost that are incurred in the defence of a criminal trial in England and Wales. Should a defendant be acquitted they will almost always be awarded their defence costs.
Defence costs will arise when a defendant is privately represented in a criminal matter. To be privately represented means that the defence will not be covered by legal aid. This tends to be because the defendant in question is wealthy.
Defence costs will be assessed by a taxation master at the conclusion of most successful criminal trials. Defendants will only be entitled to the proportion of their costs that are found to be reasonable.
| This Wales-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| This article relating to law in the United Kingdom, or its constituent jurisdictions, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Famous quotes containing the words defence and/or costs:
“Sow seed—but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth—let no imposter heap;
Weave robes—let not the idle wear;
Forge arms—in your defence to bear.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“To exercise power costs effort and demands courage. That is why so many fail to assert rights to which they are perfectly entitled—because a right is a kind of power but they are too lazy or too cowardly to exercise it. The virtues which cloak these faults are called patience and forbearance.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)