Medicines and Poisons Act 2019

This section applies if—

a court convicts a person of an offence against this Act; and

the chief executive applies to the court for an order against the person for the payment of costs incurred by the State for the investigation of the offence; and

the court finds the costs—

were not, and could not reasonably have been, expected to be incurred for the investigation of the offence; and

were reasonably incurred.

The court may order the person to pay the State an amount equal to the costs if it is satisfied it would be just to make the order in the circumstances of the particular case.

In deciding whether to make the order, the court must have regard to—

the extent to which the person’s conduct during the investigation contributed to the costs being incurred; and

whether the offence was committed, wholly and partly, for a commercial purpose; and

any other relevant matter.

This section does not limit the court’s powers under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 or another law.

An application to a court under this section, and any order made by the court on the application, is a judgment in the court’s civil jurisdiction.

Any issue is to be decided on the balance of probabilities.