Responding to today’s announcement of a review of the regulation of private prosecutors, Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association, said:
“Prosecutions – whether by the public Crown Prosecution Service or the myriad of private prosecutors – have big impacts on people’s lives. We welcome the announcement of a review of the regulation of private prosecutors. Magistrates need confidence that prosecutors are working to the highest standards and in a consistent way. There have been well-publicised examples recently which have cast doubt on this, which is why it is right to review the regulations, and the assurances that can be given to courts that procedures have been followed. On the issue of the Single Justice Procedure, we have specifically called for prosecutors to read all pleas and mitigations submitted by defendants, in order to decide whether a case passes the public interest test before it is put before magistrates.”
