The Crown Prosecution Service was in the process of pursuing a prosecution when the private prosecutor sought to bring a prosecution for a serious offence arising out of the same facts. There would be potentially concurrent prosecutions.
Held: Magistrates were not wrong to disallow a private prosecution in addition to crown prosecution. A private prosecutor does not have the unfettered right to a trial. Kennedy LJ said that on the question of the relevant considerations, when deciding whether to issue a summons in such a case: ‘The magistrate should have regard to all of the relevant circumstances of which he is aware . . . such as whether the incident giving rise to the information which he is considering has already been investigated by a responsible prosecuting authority which is pursuing what it considers to be the appropriate charges against the same proposed defendant.’
Judges:
Kennedy LJ, Bell J
Citations:
Independent 09-Jul-1993, Times 14-Sep-1993, [1994] QB 340
Statutes:
Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 6(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Charlson, Regina (on the Application of) v Guildford Magistrates’ Court and others Admn 11-Sep-2006
The CPS had discontinued a prosecution. The magistrates were then asked to issue a summons for a private prosecution. The private prosecutor appealed against the refusal to issue the summons. A second summons was requested from a different . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Judicial Review, Crime, Magistrates
Updated: 21 July 2022; Ref: scu.87326
