§ Mr. WoodburnI beg to move, in page 10, line 29, at the end, to add:
(4) Proceedings in respect of an offence under Section eleven of this Act shall not be instituted, in England or Wales, except by, or with the consent of, the Director of Public Prosecutions, or, in Northern Ireland, except by, or with the consent of, the Attorney-General for Northern Ireland.It is perhaps suitable that I should be moving an Amendment of this kind, for the reason why Scotland is omitted from this provision is that this is the general practice in Scotland, where prosecutions of any kind only take place at the instance of the Crown. We think offences of this kind should be removed from the sphere of private prosecutions, and that they should only take place with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
§ Clauses 15 and 16 ordered to stand part of the Bill.