Crown Prosecution Service

Attorney-General written question – answered at on 18 March 2013.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of John Hemming John Hemming Liberal Democrat, Birmingham, Yardley

To ask the Attorney-General how many private prosecutions have been taken over and discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service since January 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Photo of Oliver Heald Oliver Heald The Solicitor-General

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any management information centrally on the number of private prosecutions referrals it has received from January 2000 to February 2011.

Since February 2011, the CPS has maintained information for its own internal management purposes on the number of private prosecutions referrals it has received. The information should be treated with caution as it was intended for internal use only, and may not have captured every case referred to the CPS; but, it gives a good indication of the general level of referrals of private prosecutions to the CPS and what happened to the cases. The information shows the CPS has been referred 49 cases since February 2011 and 28 where at least one charge has been taken over and stopped.

Does this answer the above question?

Yes1 person thinks so

No2 people think not

Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.