Part V Protection and indemnification of justices and justices’ clerks
53AF1 Costs in legal proceedings.
1
A court may not order any justice of the peace or justices’ clerk to pay costs in any proceedings in respect of any act or omission of his in the execution (or purported execution) of his duty—
a
as such a justice; or
b
as such a clerk exercising, by virtue of any statutory provision, any of the functions of a single justice.
2
Subsection (1) above does not apply in relation to—
a
any proceedings in which a justice or justices’ clerk is being tried for an offence or is appealing against a conviction; or
b
any proceedings in which it is proved that a justice or justices’ clerk acted in bad faith in respect of the matters giving rise to the proceedings.
C13
Where a court is prevented by subsection (1) above from ordering a justice or justices’ clerk to pay costs in any proceedings, the court may instead order the making by the Lord Chancellor of a payment in respect of the costs of a person in the proceedings.
4
The Lord Chancellor may by statutory instrument make regulations specifying—
a
circumstances when a court shall or shall not exercise the power conferred on it by subsection (3) above; and
b
how the amount of any payment ordered under that subsection is to be determined.
5
No regulations may be made under subsection (4) above unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing them has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
6
In this section references to a justices’ clerk include any person appointed by a magistrates’ courts committee to assist a justices’ clerk.