The defendants challenged the power of the local authority to maintain a private prosecution of them on counts of alleged fraud. It was purpotrting to act in effect as a profit making branch of the local authority offering such legal services to CPS.
Held: The Council had no such power, though the prosecution had now been taken over by the DPP: ‘It is in the public interest that major prosecutions such as this are handled by the single prosecuting agency established by statute to conduct them.’
Judges:
Lord Thomas LCJ, Carr DBE, Gilbart JJ
Citations:
[2017] EWCA Crim 534
Links:
Statutes:
Local Government Act 1972 222, Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 29(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Practice, Local Government
Updated: 26 March 2022; Ref: scu.584245