The case about harassment is very interesting, I’m sure someone will benefit from this information. By the way, have you got any tips for not marrying someone who I’ll then have to prosecute? I’m 26 years old and don’t fancy obtaining a husband whom I’ll have to prosecute at a later stage.

As for a private prosecution, for the past 8 months of my life I have been asking my Member of Parliament to sign his name on application forms for pro bono legal assistance. To this date he has signed none. He has been trying to figure out the Sexual Offences Act (2003) and what I mean by sex crimes outlawed since 124 years ago. He is very keen though.

I have had to read up on Central Funds quite recently. Private prosecutions are very scary things financially among everything else. There are scary stories of prosecutors going bankrupt following unsuccessful prosecutions (for blasphemy, for example) as they have costs ordered against them. I am already sexually violated, if you excuse my bluntness, for me to go bankrupt on top of that from trying to do something about it would be most bizarre. I should probably start reading law books about personal insolvency? Knowledge can give me reassurance and peace of mind if I know what can happen and what’s unlikely to happen. The severe delays when legal proceedings have not even commenced are really excruciating. I hope my Member of Parliament understands that.
I don’t see how my prosecution would be unnecessary and I hope my utterances in the song ‘Gordon Brown be my Angel’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCEWhEuhRoo for example is not a case of being improper saying a little too much. I don’t think being listened to 3000 times means it can influence the jury in any way when nobody is named and there are no case details in the song.

I am still without legal representation. Shouldn’t I have applied to the court for a summons by June 2009? But then that would be when I had no clue whether any lawyer would be forthcoming to represent me, I am in fact without £150,000 I just cannot afford to prosecute. As for court attendance I might have to do it via videolink as I have plenty of reasons to believe I will be outside of the United Kingdom. I don’t know how easy or nightmarishly difficult it is to coordinate that. I have absolutely tonnes of evidence.

As legal principles are complicated and the case details are complicated, how am I going to manage without a lawyer though? … Prosecution is very risky financially and otherwise, the less I am advised the riskier it is. That’s why many people want to stay safe by staying away from the law and legal proceedings, but then they might want to ask themselves what is there to protect them from harm?

But you are saying it’s technically possible to prosecute without a lawyer? That sounds like it’s better than not prosecuting. Or I could start the process and somehow naively hope that my Member of Parliament can find me legal representation in due course? I can only really have legal representation if it is offered pro bono. In a way it could be an interesting way to end up getting paid- I know I have a very large number of witnesses and a big pile of documentary evidence. If the opponent loses, he should pay for my prosecution right? I wonder if that means my pro bono lawyer can end up being paid, so it’s a bit like no-win no-fee?

Somehow I got the impression that the court fee was a lot more money than 150 pounds. I’ll need to investigate.

I’ll need to study and re-read the information you have given me- legal proceedings that have not commenced give me such headaches. For a number of strong reasons it is very important for me to try my best. Last February I prayed 88 prayers over this and still went to work- I don’t know how I managed, I didn’t really sleep, that’s why. Also, in 125 years, there is a great need for the law to be fulfilled: this is a long story.

By the way, in my case I had a parent that I didn’t really see in 8 years, I don’t really recommend that sort of thing.

Strangely, the Act doesn’t define what harassment is, except to say it is what the person carrying out the action knows or ought to know is harassment. So, your state of knowing is what counts. Whether or not someone had told you not to contact woman B may well be a factor a court would take into account, but it is not the most important thing. To convict you of harassment, the prosecution must prove you knew or ought to have known that what you were doing would alarm or distress her.

As for costs, this is what I think the law says, but until we get a case through court we cannot be absolutely sure what will happen:

In civil proceedings costs normally “follow the event.” i.e. the loser has to pay the costs of the other party. However, rules on costs in a Magistrates Court are different. Sections 16 – 19 of Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 governs them. The Act treats a Private Prosecutor the same as a Crown Prosecutor as far as costs are concerned. This means that if the private prosecutor wins, the prosecutor can ask for his costs to be paid by the defendant, but if the prosecution fails, the defendant is normally paid his costs from Central Funds (a pot of public money), not by the prosecutor.

However, Sec 19 says the court has the discretion to make a costs order against someone “where the court is satisfied that one party to criminal proceedings has incurred costs as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by, or on behalf of, another party to the proceedings”

If your prosecution fails, therefore, defense costs should be met from Central Funds unless the court is satisfied that you acted unnecessarily or improperly, in which case it may make the order against you personally. However, until a case goes through, we cannot be sure exactly what a court will do.

If you instruct a solicitor to bring the prosecution for you, you would have to pay his costs initially. You could then apply for the defense to pay them if the prosecution succeeds, but if it fails, you would have to bear your own solicitor’s costs yourself.

If you bring the prosection in person without a solicitor, you would, of course have no costs of your own, and you would need to pay only the court fee, which is £150. If you are on benefits or earn less than £12,000 pa, you are exempt from paying the fee.

I did have someone trying to accuse me of harassment. Woman A told me not to contact woman B at all and she said if I contacted woman B, she would involve the police. However, by that date, woman B had been pleased to see me and hear from me. She was not at all distressed by my contacting and if she minded, she should have told me not to contact her. She did not say that. Woman A tried to speak for her. It was quite confusing and at the end of the day, I could only conclude that woman A got everything wrong.

I’m sorry that you have been harassed, and hope it ultimately didn’t annoy you too much.

Can I ask you a bit about the procedures of private prosecutions? What costs did you have to pay? If you had enough evidence to go through with the whole prosecution, would you have £150,000 or some other substantial sum of money to pay for the prosecution? If you lost the harassment case and your ex was not found guilty of harassment (not enough evidence etc.), would you HAVE TO pay for her defence money? How about the COURT COSTS?? Who is responsible for paying the court costs? (In a pro bono venture or a paid one)

My case is sexual crimes, the police have been useless to me but band 1 criminal lawyers the most useful; they know I have a legitimate case no matter what the average person in the street thinks of this sort of issue.

Dear Mr Morris,

Thank you for your email dated 16 November about child contact. On this occasion I have been asked to reply.

The Government believes that children benefit from a continuing relationship with both parents following divorce or separation, where it is safe and in the child’s best interests. The Children Act 1989 supports this and, most importantly, it makes the welfare of the child concerned, rather than the rights of the parents, its paramount consideration. While most parents can and do resolve issues about contact and residence following separation or divorce, the court becomes involved if either parent applies for an order for residence or contact. The court has a wide discretion to take account of all the facts and circumstances of each individual case. Decisions are made after the judge has heard and considered all the evidence provided by both parties and any other witnesses, including experts. Both parties are entitled to have their views heard and have the opportunity to respond to any evidence put before the court. If arrangements under a court order do not work out, either parent may, according to the circumstances, apply to the court for the order to be varied, revoked, or enforced.

We do not see any need to change this law, but we do need to change the way parents settle disputes. In particular, we would like to see a reduction in the number of parents resorting to the courts, as this so often results in poorer outcomes for the children and greater dissatisfaction for the parents. Where cases do come before the court, we are promoting extensive use of measures such as mediation and in-court conciliation to divert such cases from a full court hearing. Linked to this, we also want to provide a wider range of levers to ensure the proper implementation of court orders.

I realise there are cases where non-resident parents have difficulty in maintaining contact with their children because of the obstructive behaviour of the parent with whom the children reside. Where contact has been agreed or ordered by the courts, it is essential that it is adhered to. If, at the end of a long and difficult dispute, the contact ordered by the court does not take place, then it has been a waste of time and energy but, more importantly, the child is not benefiting from what the court has decided will promote their welfare. The enforcement of contact orders is a sensitive area. Deliberate refusal to obey any court order is contempt of court that can be punished with a fine or imprisonment. The court also has the power to decide to transfer residence to the other (non-resident) parent if this is considered to be in the child’s best interests.

However, penalties such as fines and imprisonment may not always be appropriate in a child contact case because of the effect that this may have on the children at the centre of the dispute. The Children and Adoption Act 2006 gives courts additional powers to facilitate contact and enforce contact orders. For instance, in addition to the current system of fines and imprisonment, they will be able to refer parents to a counsellor or a parenting programme or make enforcement orders imposing requirements for unpaid work. The courts will also be able to award financial compensation, for example where the cost of a holiday has been lost. These additional levers will be available to the courts in any contact case, if the court considers they would assist resolution. The Government brought the remaining provisions in Part 1 of the Children and Adoption Act (sections 1-5 and relating to new powers for the courts to order ‘contact activities’ to assist people in resolving contact disputes and new enforcement powers on 8 December 2008.

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) works with parents who have been unable to agree arrangements, to help them resolve their disputes, where it is safe to do so and in the child’s best interests.
The Children and Adoption Act 2006 contains measures for the extension of the maximum duration of Family Assistance Orders from six months to 12 months which were implemented in October 2007. Beyond this, the Government plans to implement additional measures to enforce contact orders, including through the monitoring of court-ordered contact.
Denying a child contact with one of its parents is not usually in the child’s best interests, but it is for the courts to decide whether or not a child has suffered serious harm or is at risk of suffering serious harm, in the circumstances of each case.

Yours sincerely

Emma Hutchinson
Public Communications Unit
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0097256. To correspond by email with the Department for Children, Schools and Families please contact info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk.
If you have any further queries why not browse our Popular Questions website. This site has been built to allow you to quickly find the answer to your question http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/popularquestions

Ray