Where any criminal proceedings are instituted by or on behalf of, or taken over by, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the costs of the prosecution of such proceedings (including any costs incurred in connection with any matter preliminary or incidental to, and with any appeal from, those proceedings) shall, in accordance with arrangements approved by the Department of Finance and Personnel, be defrayed in the first instance by the Director.

Except in the case of proceedings to which subsection (1) applies, the costs of the prosecution of any criminal proceedings (including any costs incurred in connection with any matter preliminary or incidental to, and with any appeal from, those proceedings) shall, subject to subsection (3), be defrayed in the first instance by the prosecutor.

F2. . . where the prosecutor is any …F3 department of the Government of Northern Ireland, the costs to be defrayed by that department under subsection (2) shall be at such rates or of such amounts as may be generally or specially approved by the F4Department of Finance and Personnel.F5