Part 2E+WJustices of the peace

Protection and indemnification of justices and justices' clerksE+W

34Costs in legal proceedingsE+W

(1)A court may not order a justice of the peace to pay costs in any proceedings in respect of what he does or omits to do in the execution (or purported execution) of his duty as a justice of the peace.

F1(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3)But [F2subsection (1) does] not apply in relation to any proceedings in which a justice of the peace F3...—

(a)is being tried for an offence or is appealing against a conviction, or

(b)is proved to have acted in bad faith in respect of the matters giving rise to the proceedings.

(4)A court which is prevented by subsection (1) [F4from ordering a justice of the peace] to pay costs in any proceedings may instead order the Lord Chancellor to make a payment in respect of the costs of a person in the proceedings.

(5)The Lord Chancellor may [F5, after consulting the Lord Chief Justice,] make regulations specifying—

(a)circumstances in which a court must or must not exercise the power conferred on it by subsection (4), and

(b)how the amount of any payment ordered under subsection (4) is to be determined.

[F6(6)The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a judicial office holder (as defined in section 109(4) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise his functions under this section.]

Textual Amendments