Legal costs can often be recovered by a private prosecutor, either from central funds pursuant to section 17 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (whether or not the defendant is convicted) or, in some circumstances, from the defendant.
Section 17(1) does allow a private prosecutor who is awarded costs out of central funds to recover costs even if they have been incurred prior to the formal commencement of the prosecution; even if incurred before the issue of a summons or the laying of an information, steps may properly be regarded as having been taken ‘in the proceedings’ for the purposes of s.17(1), see Football Association Premier League v Lord Chancellor [2021] EWHC 755 (QB).
Where a successful private prosecutor has incurred investigative, they may also seek to recover these from the defendant.