Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Private Prosecution definition

What does Private Prosecution mean? A private prosecution is a criminal case started by an individual or organisation rather than by the state. In England and Wales the right is preserved by section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985; the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on behalf of the DPP, may take over and continue or discontinue. Any offence requiring Attorney General or DPP consent still needs that consent. Proceedings are usually begun by laying an information under the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980. Private prosecutors owe the same duties of fairness and disclosure under the CPIA 1996 and are subject to abuse of process...

Private Prosecutions in England and Wales: Practical Guidance on Duties, Abuse of Process, Costs, Investigations, DPP Takeover, Laying Informations, Summons and Disclosure

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

This PrACTice Note sets out a concise and accessible overview of the principal considerations when pursuing a Private Prosecution. It is intended as a practical aid for anyone contemplating commencing a private prosecution matter. For a general primer on private prosecutions, consult the Practice Note: Private prosecutions—an introductory guide.

Starting a private prosecution—initial considerations

A private prosecutor may act in person, or may appoint lawyers to manage and conduct the proceedings for them. The points below are among the first issues the lawyers and private prosecutors (the private prosecution team) should carefully weigh when deciding whether to commence a private prosecution.

Duties of the private prosecutor and prosecution team

A private prosecutor bears the same obligation as a public prosecutor to properly fulfil the role of a minister of justice. To meet this obligation, prosecutors—while not compelled—ought to seek to follow the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Code for Crown Prosecutors. Lawyers conducting private prosecutions should uphold the utmost integrity, and are required to act in the public interest rather than serve the interests of the instructing client...

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Michelle Sloane

RPC

Michelle is a dual qualified lawyer in New Zealand and England & Wales and former investigator from New Zealand’s revenue agency, who specialises in tax disputes, financial crime and regulatory investigations. Michelle acts for both corporate and individual clients. Michelle has acted for numerous corporates in connection with a wide range of tax and financial crime related matters, with particular focus on fraud, money laundering offences and VAT and customs and excise duty disputes. She has experience working on dispute, investigations and prosecutions involving numerous enforcement authorities for over 18 years. In her representation of individuals, Michelle regularly attends Interviews Under Caution and regulatory investigative interviews and has also represented individuals in broader criminal and regulatory investigations. A core area of her practise is financial crime litigation which involves fraud, bribery and the conduct of related civil proceedings. She has particular expertise in relation to HMRC...

Thomas Jenkins

RPC

Tom is Of Counsel in RPC's Tax, Investigations and Financial Crime team. He has extensive experience in conducting anti-corruption investigations and advising on the implementation and enhancement of compliance programmes. He advises individual and corporate clients facing a wide range of financial crime and regulatory defence challenges, including multi-jurisdictional investigations and prosecutions involving bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering and market abuse.Tom acts for clients in a broad range of sectors with particular experience in engineering, heavy industry, construction, aviation, oil and gas, finance, commodities trading and healthcare. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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