Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Disclosure definition

What does Disclosure mean? Disclosure describes the process in litigation by which a party identifies, lists and, where not protected by privilege, allows inspection of documents within its control that are relevant to the issues in dispute, including confirming that a document exists or has existed. It covers paper and electronic material (ESI), and carries a continuing duty to preserve and disclose. In England and Wales, disclosure is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules: standard disclosure and inspection under Part 31, and in the Business and Property Courts, initial and extended disclosure under Practice Direction 57AD. Parties must conduct a reasonable and proportionate search, list...

Private Prosecutions: CPIA Disclosure, DMDs, LPP/PII, Third‑Party Material, Conflicts and Abuse of Process (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

Private prosecutor’s role as a ‘Minister of Justice’

A private prosecutor, along with anyone running proceedings on their behalf, must ACT as ‘Ministers of Justice’. Alongside that duty, a private prosecutor can also assume the following positions in a case:

Complainant
witness
investigator
Disclosure officer

Unavoidably, these overlapping roles can collide, weakening the prosecutor’s ability to act as a true ‘Minister of Justice’. Where one individual or entity holds any mixture of these roles, the tension must be recognised and actively managed so the defendant is not treated unfairly. Both sides should remain alive to this risk.

Partly for this reason, it is not uncommon for challenges to be brought to the issuing of the summons or the continuation of proceedings. See Practice Note: Challenging private prosecutions. Such challenges frequently probe the private prosecutor’s motive and conduct (often examining whether the duty of candour was properly observed) and may lead to applications to set aside the summons or to stay the proceedings...

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Jonathan Laidlaw , KC

2 Hare Court

Whilst Jonathan Laidlaw KC’s practice is predominantly in business and financial crime where he has consistently been ranked by Chambers as one of their star silks, he is now rated in the directories as a leading silk in six practice areas: general crime, private prosecutions, health and safety, inquests and inquiries and professional discipline and regulatory crime. Previously a recipient of the “Crime Silk of the Year” award, the directories have spoken of him being “regularly instructed in headline-grabbing cases” who is, “also eminently well equipped to advise significant individuals on sensitive matters involving reputational issues”. It has been said that he is “an extraordinarily able advocate with great style who can deal with the most difficult of cases with the greatest of ease” and that he has “lethal cross-examination skills and a mean way with closing speeches”. He features in the Sunday...

Angus Bunyan

2 Hare Court

Angus is an established leading junior who specialises in corporate and financial crime.His practice has recently included being instructed by the SFO to secure Deferred Prosecution Agreements with two UK companies for bribery offences and to prosecute individuals suspected of bribery in the construction sector, representing the Federal Republic of Nigeria in its application for compensation from Glencore, prosecuting UK directors for paying bribes to secure Afghan military contracts and acting in the HBOS case involving corruption between senior managers at the bank and leading figures in the business community.Angus also has significant expertise both in bringing and defending private prosecutions, especially those arising from commercial disputes. He represented Oleg Deripaska in his private prosecution of a former associate and in the related judicial review proceedings and his advice and counsel is regularly sought by other HNW individuals and companies seeking to explore this niche...

Lewis MacDonald

2 Hare Court

Lewis is ranked as a leading practitioner across his main practice areas in both of the main directories: In fraud and financial crime, private prosecutions, and professional discipline. He has quickly developed a reputation as a very bright junior with a calm court room manner, and is frequently instructed in document heavy cases raising complex issues of fact and law.In the criminal sphere, Lewis acts for the prosecution and defence across the spectrum of serious criminal offences, from violence and terrorism to large scale fraud. His practice increasingly focuses on white collar, business crime, consumer offences, and asset forfeiture. Lewis is known as a go-to junior for private prosecutions, and has been instructed in a number of significant fraud cases for and against the private prosecutor.In regulatory cases, Lewis has extensive experience appearing before a number of regulators, often in complex or...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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