Private Prosecutions

(asked on 23rd October 2025) - View Source
Questioner
Andrew Snowden Portrait
Andrew Snowden
(Conservative - Fylde)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to ensure that private prosecutions do not contribute to existing court backlogs.

Answered by
Sarah Sackman Portrait
Sarah Sackman
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 31st October 2025

Private prosecutions are brought before the same courts in England and Wales as prosecutions commenced by criminal justice agencies. The prioritisation of cases in the criminal court caseload is a matter for the independent judiciary. The Ministry of Justice published a consultation “on the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors in the criminal justice system”, between 6 March and 8 May 2025 and will set out next steps shortly.

The Ministry of Justice holds management information on private prosecutions brought before the magistrates’ courts and this is shown in the table below. The definition of private prosecutions is detailed in the Department’s consultation referenced above.

Table One: Defendants dealt with in private prosecutions at the magistrates’ courts in England and Wales, annually 2014 – 2024

Year

Quarter

Defendants dealt with in private prosecutions

Proportion of total defendants dealt with at the magistrates’ courts

2015

All

397,932

26%

2016

All

400,647

27%

2017

All

384,037

27%

2018

All

401,767

29%

2019

All

408,611

29%

2020

All

180,057

18%

2021

All

167,312

15%

2022

All

235,042

19%

2023

All

326,399

26%

2024

All

352,276

27%

Information on private prosecutions at the Crown Court cannot be produced robustly within costs.

Notes

  1. We have defined a private prosecution as any that have not been led by the Police, Crown Prosecution Service, or British Transport Police.

  1. This definition means that prosecutions by organisations like the TV Licencing Authority and other government agencies are included as private prosecutions.

  1. This data includes cases completed at the magistrates' courts during the specified time period, where no further action was required by the magistrates' courts, and cases sent to the Crown Court.

  1. Data differs from data in the 2023 published ‘Consultation on the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors in the criminal justice system’ due to data refreshes since that report.

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