Most, if not all, businesses will at some point find themselves presented with a grievance by an employee. It is […]
As we discussed in a previous post, there are several advantages to bringing a private prosecution if you are the victim of a business crime. These include the fact that unlike the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), you understand your business and industry. Furthermore, you can select a more senior and highly-skilled legal team than what the CPS can provide.
But for those who are pursued by a private prosecution, what safeguards are in place to protect them from malicious or weak claims? And is the private prosecution process fair and subject to the same standards as public prosecutions?
These questions were considered by the House of Commons Justice Committee, which published its report in October 2020. It stated:
“The existing safeguards in place to regulate private prosecutions are effective at filtering out weak claims. Furthermore, the judicial process that applies to all prosecutions ensures that private prosecutions are rigorously tested. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify simple measures that could enhance the effectiveness of existing safeguards and procedures.
Overall, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the organisational structure of the prosecutorial system in England and Wales is rather haphazard. An increase in private prosecutions is likely to make that situation worse. Without effective oversight of the system as a whole, the Government is going to struggle to identify any reforms that could make the overall prosecutorial system work more effectively and deliver better outcomes for the public and for access to justice.”
The report recommended the following to improve the fairness and standards of private prosecutions:
The right enjoyed by corporate entities to bring a private prosecution is important in promoting access to justice. However, as noted in the report “there is a duty on the government to ensure “that the rise in the number of private prosecutions does not result in the development of a parallel system where the public interest, accountability and transparency are secondary to private interests.” It is also imperative that the recommendations cited above are implemented to ensure private prosecutions are conducted fairly and held to the same rigorous standards as prosecutions brought by the CPS.