Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of safeguards to prevent the misuse of private prosecutions for vexatious purposes.

The Government recognises that vexatious private prosecutions are a serious problem. There are established mechanisms for dealing with vexatious applications. In deciding whether to issue a summons for an individual or organisation to bring a private prosecution, magistrates will review whether the application is vexatious and will decline the application if it is. Defendants who wish to challenge the grant of a summons for a private prosecution against them can do so by requesting a judicial review of the decision or applying to the High Court to quash the summons.

Fairness and transparency are the cornerstones of our justice system and there is a clear need to set consistent standards amongst private prosecutors. We think there is scope to do more to ensure such high standards.

That is why the Government launched a consultation into the regulation of private prosecutors which closed earlier this year. We will set out next steps shortly.