Subject to subsections (2) and (2A) below, the court may—
order the payment out of central funds of such amount as the court considers reasonably sufficient to compensate the prosecutor for any expenses properly incurred by him in the proceedings.
No order under this section may be made in favour of—
Where the court considers that there are circumstances that make it inappropriate for the prosecution to recover the full amount mentioned in subsection (1), an order under this section must be for the payment out of central funds of such lesser amount as the court considers just and reasonable.
When making an order under this section, the court must fix the amount to be paid out of central funds in the order if it considers it appropriate to do so and—
Where the court does not fix the amount to be paid out of central funds in the order—
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Where the conduct of proceedings to which subsection (1) above applies is taken over by the Crown Prosecution Service, that subsection shall have effect as if it referred to the prosecutor who had the conduct of the proceedings before the intervention of the Service and to expenses incurred by him up to the time of intervention.
In this section "public authority " means—