I recently had to pay a criminal law lawyer almost $1500 to defend me for charges I was innocent of. Now the day before the trial was meant to begin, the police have dropped the charges (further proof of my innocence) having to pay all this money has left me in great financial difficulty, ie I'm behind in my mortgage, electricity, water & gas bills. Is there anyway I can recover the money I have spent? Seems to be wrong that I've had to pay all this money to defend myself when all along I was innocent.
SA Police Dropped Charges - Recover Legal Fees?
- Thread starter Ange
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- criminal law mortgage police
Hi Ange,
Unfortunately, there is no compensation system in Australia (that I know of) for costs incurred when police incorrectly charges someone. You may find some solace in knowing that your situation is still more fortunate than others (see: this article by ABC).
It may not be the case that you incurred the fees in vain. The work done by your criminal lawyer may have contributed toward the charges being dropped (or dropped earlier).
If you are experiencing difficulties paying service bills because of this case, you should inform your service providers ASAP and arrange some sort of payment arrangement. Most service providers (telecommunications, energy and water) are willing to negotiate payment arrangements for changes in financial circumstances.
Unfortunately, there is no compensation system in Australia (that I know of) for costs incurred when police incorrectly charges someone. You may find some solace in knowing that your situation is still more fortunate than others (see: this article by ABC).
It may not be the case that you incurred the fees in vain. The work done by your criminal lawyer may have contributed toward the charges being dropped (or dropped earlier).
If you are experiencing difficulties paying service bills because of this case, you should inform your service providers ASAP and arrange some sort of payment arrangement. Most service providers (telecommunications, energy and water) are willing to negotiate payment arrangements for changes in financial circumstances.
There are in fact some avenues by which to recover these costs. A court can make a costs order and there is a tort of malicious prosecution. However these avenues are, in practical terms, very unlikely to succeed. It is best just to write this off as an unfortunate expense.
Something seriously needs to change here. There are now a number of private and unregulated "Are we dating the same guy" (AWDTSG) chat groups on Facebook that provide detailed instruction to their group members on how to manipulate various government systems (such as Police and Child Support Agency) into causing harm to their ex-partners.
For example: A woman can make a completely false allegation of assault against an ex-boyfriend, resulting in the ex-boyfriend being charged. Even if the ex-boyfriend has enough evidence to refute the false allegation, he still needs to spend $5K - $10K on a criminal defence lawyer to defend the claim.
Police have a policy of NOT pursuing charges against women who make domestic violence complaints - even when police suspect (or even know) the claims to be false. This is because they don't want to discourage women with legitimate domestic violence complaints from coming forward.
Lawyers will argue that from a legal perspective it's a non-issue: The ex-boyfriend hires a good lawyer and gets a not guilty verdict - Justice has prevailed!
However, from a financial perspective it's a clear win for the spiteful ex-girlfriend: it cost her nothing to make the false complaint to police; she has no fear of being held accountable (either criminally or financially) for making the false complaint; and she also gets the satisfaction of knowing she's wasted $10K of her ex-boyfriend's hard-earned money. These women have turned the legal system into a financial game that they can't lose!
I would have thought that pursuing a claim of malicious prosecution against the party making the false complaint would be the appropriate course of action here. But apparently these cases are rarely successful. Why?!
For example: A woman can make a completely false allegation of assault against an ex-boyfriend, resulting in the ex-boyfriend being charged. Even if the ex-boyfriend has enough evidence to refute the false allegation, he still needs to spend $5K - $10K on a criminal defence lawyer to defend the claim.
Police have a policy of NOT pursuing charges against women who make domestic violence complaints - even when police suspect (or even know) the claims to be false. This is because they don't want to discourage women with legitimate domestic violence complaints from coming forward.
Lawyers will argue that from a legal perspective it's a non-issue: The ex-boyfriend hires a good lawyer and gets a not guilty verdict - Justice has prevailed!
However, from a financial perspective it's a clear win for the spiteful ex-girlfriend: it cost her nothing to make the false complaint to police; she has no fear of being held accountable (either criminally or financially) for making the false complaint; and she also gets the satisfaction of knowing she's wasted $10K of her ex-boyfriend's hard-earned money. These women have turned the legal system into a financial game that they can't lose!
I would have thought that pursuing a claim of malicious prosecution against the party making the false complaint would be the appropriate course of action here. But apparently these cases are rarely successful. Why?!
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