Are private prosecutions a public benefit, or a public bane?

There have been several recent egregious examples of private prosecutions, including the case of the Post Office prosecuting numerous Postmasters for losses caused by a faulty IT system. Professor John Spencer discusses these cases, the evolution of the system of private prosecutions, and the considerations involved in regulating such actions.

Professor Spencer is Professor Emeritus of Law and Honorary President of the European Criminal Law Association. He has written extensively on criminal justice matters and has been involved in a number of law reform projects.

Law in Focus is a collection of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty.

[byronandresnoguerasalazar]

Un tema superinteresante, un saludo y un gran abrazo desde Ecuador para toda la Comunidad de Cambrige y para la eminencia Profesor Jhon Spencer. 👍📖👏👏👏

[__Lies]

I'm not convinced that the CPS can be trusted to do its job properly, solely on the basis of having no profits to protect.

There are several other reasons why a public prosecutor might bend or even break the rules. The most obvious of these is the desire to skew criminal conviction data, and this can easily be achieved by withholding or failing to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defence.

This has happened many times. The case that springs to mind is that of Liam Allen. Although the prosecution barrister flagged it up during the trial, a decision had been taken to withhold the evidence.

We don't know how much public money was wasted on this ill-conceived venture, but I would wager it's fairly substantial.

[dawahkids]

There are wrongdoers in every system. In Toronto I had a crime upon me and my family. Police were involved they did their job but not enough evidence so closed the case. I gathered evidence and now I have enough for a private prosecution. I am grateful for this process.

[B-]

Private Prosecutions should remain as justice should not be in the sole control of the state and should be available to everyone.

We've seen time and time again that the police often are incapable of launching prosecutions even when the evidence in available to charge or summon someone.

RSPCA whilst havint its handful of scandals over the years is effectively the only animal welfare body that prosecutes offenders with police forces and local authorities seeing such legislation as being not important enough to launch investigations let along have someone charged.

[danielhale]

The post office scandal had nothing to do with private prosecutions. The post office historically had a legal right to bring a public prosecution.