The plaintiff sought judicial review of the DPP’s decision not to prosecute a husband suspected of buggery.
Held: The application succeeded. The Respondent had failed to consider the criteria required by the Code. However, the power to review the DPP’s decision in such a case must be sparingly exercised.
Kennedy LJ said: ‘in the context of the present case this court can be persuaded to act if and only if it is demonstrated to us that the Director of Public Prosecutions acting through the Crown Prosecution Service arrived at the decision not to prosecute:
1. because of some unlawful policy (such as the hypothetical decision in Blackburn not to prosecute where the value of goods stolen was below andpound;100); or
2. because the Director of Public Prosecutions failed to act in accordance with her own settled policy as set out in the Code; or
3. because the decision was perverse. It was a decision at which no reasonable prosecutor could have arrived.’
He discussed whether it was right even so to commence a prosecution, the CPS having advised the proposed defendant that no prosecution was to follow: ‘ in my judgment those matters are of comparatively little weight at this stage when the applicant could still if she wanted commence a private prosecution and has shown some indication of doing so. Were she to do so the Director of Public Prosecutions might or might not feel constrained to take it over and offer no evidence, but for present purposes the important matter is that the second respondent cannot claim to have been misled into thinking that he was free of all jeopardy. ‘
Judges:
Kennedy LJ
Citations:
[1995] 1 Cr App R 136
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ex Parte Manning, Ex Parte Melbourne QBD 17-May-2000
The applicants sought judicial review of the decision of the Director not to prosecute anybody after the death of their brother in prison custody, and while under restraint by prison officers. The jury at a coroner’s inquest had returned a verdict . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 01 September 2022; Ref: scu.396406