1Under Item 6 of Table C of the Legal Profession (Official Prosecutions) (Accused's Costs) Determination 2024, the allowance for preparation where a trial does not proceed is 'an amount which is reasonable in the circumstances' — the scale does not prescribe a maximum amount, and a costs assessment premised on the erroneous belief that the amounts claimed represent the schedule maximum is vitiated by error.
2Where a magistrate's exercise of discretion in assessing costs is materially founded on an erroneous factual or legal understanding of the applicable costs determination, the decision must be set aside notwithstanding the appellate reluctance to interfere with quantum-only costs appeals.
