Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 18 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 June 2007. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Monday, 25 June 2007 on behalf of the Solicitor General.

Data Protection: Prosecutions

Question: To ask the Solicitor-General what criteria are followed by the Director of Public Prosecutions in deciding whether to give his consent pursuant to section 60 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to a prosecution for a non-notification offence under that Act.

Answer: In cases requiring the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, specific consideration must be given to the decision to institute or continue proceedings.A crown prosecutor can give consent on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions by virtue of section 1(7) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.The decision to grant consent should be taken applying the principles set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the CPS’s policies. Consent cases should be reviewed at the earliest possible opportunity.The Code for Crown Prosecutors is a publicly available document, which can be accessed from the CPS’s website at"http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/code2004english.pdf"

Secondary information