Private prosecution

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A private prosecution is a criminal case initiated by an individual or organization other than the state-funded prosecutor. In countries which allow such prosecutions, the procedure is typically used in circumstances where the public prosecutor believes the case not to be in the public interest. The public prosecutor may also suspect that the defendant is guilty, but believe there to be insufficient evidence for a conviction: in this case the public prosecutor may have the authority to block the private prosecution in order to prevent a future public prosecution with better evidence from being prevented by the principle of double jeopardy.

The public prosecutor may also have the authority to take over the private case for other reasons.^[1]

[edit] Notable private prosecutions

• Whitehouse v. Lemon (1977), the last successful blasphemy prosecution in the United Kingdom
• The unsuccessful charge brought by the family of Stephen Lawrence against the five men they alleged to have killed him (1996).
• The charges against the Ottawa Children's Aid Society for Offences committed by them under section 307 (5) of the Corporations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-38 Foster Care Council of Canada - Enforcement Branch

[edit] References

1. ^ Crown Prosecution Service, Legal guidance page on Private prosecutions