Anyone can prosecute: no consent requirement

The Bill does not require the consent of the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions before a prosecution is brought. Under s.6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, any person can bring a private prosecution, including individuals or organisations with a campaigning interest. A private prosecutor does not need to be the victim, know the person involved, or have any connection to the case. A campaign group with no link to a family could, in principle, prosecute a parent.
 

Other routes into court are filtered. A judicial review claimant must show a “sufficient interest in the matter” (Senior Courts Act 1981 s.31(3)). Under the Bill’s own protection-order regime, anyone other than the individual, the police or a local authority needs the court’s leave, and the court must consider their connection to the individual (Sch. para 2(3)). The criminal offence has no equivalent filter.

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The DPP can take over and discontinue a private prosecution (s.6(2)), but only at the DPP’s discretion and only after proceedings have begun. New Zealand’s Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022 requires the Attorney General’s consent before a prosecution is brought (s.12).

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Effects: Families, practitioners and support organisations can be drawn into criminal proceedings by people with no connection to them. This leaves open a route to vexatious or politically motivated prosecutions. The cost and strain fall on the defendant before any review.