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THE CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1867.

(30 & 31 VICT. c. 35.)

[Costs of Witnesses for the Defendant.]

5. Payment of expenses of witnesses for accused at trial.] The court before which any accused person shall be prosecuted or tried, or for trial before which he may be committed or bailed to appear for any felony or misdemeanor, is hereby authorised and empowered, in its discretion, at the request of any person who shall appear before such court on recognizance to give evidence on behalf of the person accused, to order payment unto such witness so appearing such sum of money as to the court shall seem reasonable and sufficient to compensate such witness for the expenses, trouble, and loss of time he shall have incurred or sustained in attending before the examining magistrate, and at or before such court; and the amount of such expenses of attending before the examining magistrate, and compensation for trouble and loss of time therein, shall be ascertained by the certificate of such magistrate, granted before the attendance in court; and the amount of all other expenses and compensation shall be ascertained by the proper officer of the court, who shall, upon the receipt of the sum of sixpence for each witness, make out and deliver to the person entitled thereto an order for such expenses and compensation, together with the said fee of sixpence, upon such and the same treasurers and officers as would now by law be liable to payment of an order for the expenses of the prosecutor or witnesses against such accused person, and if the accusation be of such kind that the court shall have no power to order the expenses of the prosecutor, then upon the treasurer or other officer in the capacity of a treasurer of the county, riding, division, city, borough, or place where the offence of such accused person may be alleged to have been committed, which treasurer or other officer is hereby required to pay the same orders upon sight thereof, and shall be allowed the same in his accounts: Provided always, that in no case shall any such allowances or compensation exceed the amount now by law permitted to be made to prosecutors and witnesses for the prosecution; and provided always, that such allowances and compensation shall be allowed and paid as part of the expenses of the prosecution.

It is the practice of the Central Criminal Court to allow expenses for all witnesses for the defence if bound over in any case of felony or misdemeanor, even where the costs of the witnesses for the prosecution are not allowed by statute.

Where the officer of the court is paid by salary, or is only entitled to one fee under the table of fees relating to his office, in respect of the prosecution of an offender, such officer is not entitled to the fee of sixpence mentioned in this section (32 & 33 Vict. c. 89, s. 10).

Fees under this section are to be included in the account of the clerk of the peace (32 & 33 Vict. c. 89, s. 11).

Appendix.

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Appendix.

REGULATIONS

MADE BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE GOVERNING THE
ALLOWANCES PAYABLE TO PROSECUTORS AND WIT-
NESSES IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS.

In pursuance of the powers vested in me by section 5 of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1851 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 55), I hereby make the following Regulations :

1. WITNESSES GIVING PROFESSIONAL EVIDEnce.

There may be allowed to practising members of the legal and medical professions, for attending to give professional evidence, but not otherwise, allowances not exceeding the sums stated in the following scale :

For attending to give evidence in the town or place where the witness resides or practises

if the witness attends to give evidence in one case only, not more than one guinea per diem ;

if the witness gives evidence on the same day in two or more separate and distinct cases, not more than two guineas;

For attending to give evidence elsewhere than in any town or place where the witness resides or practises, whether in one or more cases, not more than two guineas per diem.

In this Regulation "town" means municipal borough or urban district; and "place" means the area within a radius of three miles from the court at which the witness attends to give evidence.

No allowance may be given under this Regulation to the solicitor for the prosecution, except that, if such solicitor gives professional evidence which, in the opinion of the court, was necessary and saved the attendance of another witness, a fee of 68. 8d. may be allowed.

2. EXPERT WITNESSES AND INTERPRETERS.

There may be allowed (a) to expert witnesses such allowances for attending to give expert evidence as the court may consider reasonable, including, where necessary, an allowance for qualifying to give evidence, and (b) to persons employed as interpreters, such allowances as the court may consider reasonable.

3. POLICE OFFICERS.

There may be allowed to police officers :

When attending as prosecutors or witnesses at courts situate within the area of their own police authority, no allowance, other than travelling allowances as provided in Regulation 8.

When attending as prosecutors or witnesses at courts situate Appendix.
outside the area of their own police authority-

(a) In the case of constables and sergeants, a
sum not exceeding--
For the day

For the night

(b) In the case of inspectors, a sum not ex

ceeding

48.

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For the purposes of this Regulation, any court at which cases arising in the area of any police authority or part thereof are ordinarily heard or tried, shall be deemed, so far as regards such cases, to be situate within that area.

4. PRISON WARDERS.

There may be allowed to prison warders attending as prosecutors or witnesses or in charge of a prisoner produced to give evidence, a sum equal to that allowed them by the Regulations of the Prison Department, viz. :

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For a prisoner so produced in the custody of warders, such sum for subsistence as the warders have been authorised to spend, and has been actually expended, on his behalf.

5. ORDINARY WITNESSES.

There may be allowed to witnesses, other than those hereinbefore mentioned, allowances not exceeding 7s. for the day and 58. for the night;

Provided that the day allowance to the under-mentioned classes of witnesses, when they are not necessarily detained from home for a night, shall not, except for special reasons allowed by the court, exceed the following rates:

(1) For children the allowance shall not exceed 1s. per diem;
(2) For persons of the pauper or vagrant class the allowance
shall not exceed 18. per diem;

Appendix.

(3) For other persons who do not lose wages, earnings, or income by attendance, the allowance shall not exceed 2s. 6d. per diem ;

(4) For persons in the service of an employer who lose wages by
attendance, the allowance shall not exceed the following
rates, except on the production of a certificate from the
employer showing that the wages so lost are in excess of
such rates:

For agricultural labourers, unskilled labourers,
and others similarly employed -

For artisans, mechanics, and others similarly
employed

For clerks, shop assistants, and others similarly
employed

3s. 6d. per diem.

58.

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5s.

Provided also that no night allowance, within the abovementioned limit of 5s., shall exceed the expense reasonably incurred by the witness.

6. SEAMEN.

Where seamen have been detained on shore for the purpose of giving evidence in a criminal prosecution, the amount actually and reasonably incurred for their maintenance during their detention may be allowed in addition to any allowances made under the foregoing rule.

7. GENERAL REGULATION.

No full day allowance under Regulations 1, 3, and 5 shall be paid unless the witness is necessarily detained away from his home, or place of business or employment, for at least four hours for the purpose of giving evidence.

If the time during which the witness is necessarily detained away from his home, or place of business or employment, be less than four hours, he shall receive not more than one-half of the allowance which he would have received had he been detained for the full day:

Provided that this Regulation shall not apply (1) where the full day allowance is not more than 1s. ; and (2) where the court is satisfied that a witness, though absent for less than four hours, necessarily loses, in consequence of his attendance, his whole day's

wages.

No night allowance under Regulations 3, 4, and 5 shall be paid unless the witness in order to give evidence is necessarily detained away from home for the night.

There may be allowed to any prosecutor or other person who, in the opinion of the court, necessarily attends for the purpose of the prosecution otherwise than as a witness, the same allowance, including travelling allowance, as to an ordinary witness.

8. TRAVELLING ALLOWANCES.

For attending court from a distance of over two miles there may be allowed:

(1) To witnesses travelling by railway or other public convey- Appendix. ance, the fare actually paid. Railway fares, except for special reasons allowed by the court, shall be third class; and if return tickets are available, only return rates shall be allowed. In the case of police witnesses, the reduced rates under the Cheap Trains Act, 1883, shall not be exceeded, except where the single fare is less than 18.; or for special reasons allowed by the court.

(2) Where no railway or other public conveyance is available, and one or more witnesses necessarily travel by a hired vehicle, the sum actually paid for the hire of such vehicle, not exceeding 18. a mile each way: provided that, where two or more witnesses attend from the same place, the total allowance shall not exceed 1s. a mile each way, unless the court is satisfied that it was reasonably necessary to hire more than one vehicle.

(3) To each witness travelling on foot or by private conveyance, where no railway or other public conveyance is available, a sum not to exceed 2d. a mile each way.

Allowances made under (2) and (3) shall be made separately as mileage.

For the conveyance of witnesses suffering from serious illness, or for the carriage of heavy exhibits, sums in excess of the above rates may be allowed if the court is satisfied that the expense incurred was reasonably necessary.

Warders in charge of prisoners produced to give evidence may be allowed the cost of travelling by such means of conveyance as the governor of the prison may have directed.

9. FORM OF CERTIFICATE.

The form of certificate in Appendix A. hereto shall be used when a magistrate or magistrates acting under the Indictable Offences Act, 1848, grants a certificate of the allowances payable to prosecutors, witnesses, and other persons appearing before them. The profession, trade, or occupation, of each person, or the fact that he is without employment or occupation, must be stated on the form.

The form in Appendix B. may be used when a magistrate grants a certificate under section 28 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, for the costs of prosecution of an indictable offence tried summarily.

10. DATE OF COMMENCEMENT.

These Regulations shall take effect on and after the 1st July 1904.

The Order of the 12th November 1903 is hereby revoked.
Given under my hand at Whitehall this 14th day of June 1904.

A. AKERS-DOUGLAS,
One of his Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State.

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