§ Mr. Sedgemoreasked the Attorney General how many cases of criminal libel he or the Director of Public Prosecutions are at present prosecuting or considering whether or not to prosecute or advising others on whether or not they should prosecute.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Director of Public Prosecutions is considering whether or not to prosecute one case.
§ Mr. Sedgemoreasked the Attorney-General how many prosecutions for criminal libel have been brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions in each year since 1945; and how many related to newspaper proprietors, editors and journalists.
§ The Attorney-GeneralRecords are not available for the years before 1956. Since 1956, the records of the Director of Public Prosecutions disclose six prosecutions for criminal libel involving seven defendants, in 1957, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1971 and 1974 respectively. So far as those records show, none related to newspaper proprietors, editors or journalists.