§ Mr. John Morrisasked the Attorney-General how many criminal prosecutions have been initiated by the Director of Public Prosecutions in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Director of Public Prosecutions rarely exercises his power to institute criminal proceedings, and separate statistics are not collated for such cases. Where the DPP decides to assume responsibility for a prosecution, this is normally done after proceedings have been instituted by the police—whether on their own initiative or acting on advice from the director.
The following table sets out for each of the last five years the number of cases concluded in which the DPP assumed responsibility for the prosecution, together with the number of defendants and counts/charges preferred.
297W
Year Cases Persons Prosecuted Counts/Charges 1980 1,340 3,944 6,909 1981 1,224 4,130 7,102 1982 1,307 3,631 6,398 1983 1,064 3,157 5,001 1984 999 2,676 3,740