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The High Court held that there was no error of law in a refusal by a magistrates court to make an order for costs under s 64 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 in favour of the successful party when the billing authority’s complaint for non payment of rates was dismissed, because the magistrates court was correct that the principles of Bradford Metropolitan District Council v Booth [2000] EWHC (Admin) 444 applied including that s 64 contained no presumption that costs should follow the event. The magistrates court properly applied the discretion under s 64 in accordance with the principles of Booth and in particular, there was sufficient evidence for the District Judge to conclude that the billing authority had acted honestly and reasonably in pursuing the applications for liability orders.
