The Court held that s 257C(1) Criminal Procedure Act 1986 distinguishes between 'proceedings' and 'the matter', such that a defendant convicted on some charges may still obtain a costs order for matters on which the prosecutor was unsuccessful, including dismissed charges against co-defendants with common representation. The General Partner was fined a total of $320,000 and the Labour Hire Company $270,000 for s 32 WHS offences arising from a worker's fall through a skylight, with the s 20 fine heavily reduced for totality given identical breaches and control measures. The prosecutor was ordered to pay 80% of the defendants' costs across all proceedings, reflecting its overwhelming failure on the s 31 fault element, the case against acquitted co-defendants, unsuccessful further particulars, and a misconceived s 5AE application, with the Court finding the prosecutor unreasonably pursued issues unsupported by its own expert evidence and failed to accept comprehensive guilty pleas.
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