The CPS Guidance on private prosecutions states that the general rule is that the CPS should make disclosure whenever it is in the interests of justice to do so. It goes on to say that it is unlikely to be in the interests of justice for the CPS to disclose case material to a potential private prosecutor if that material has been reviewed and is not in itself considered to be sufficient to pass the evidential stage of the Full Code Test.
The CPS considers that any voluntary disclosure should be even handed between the parties and therefore any documents supplied to the private prosecutor at his or her request should also be supplied to the defendant and vice versa.
The CPS will apply its legal guidance on Disclosure of Material to Third Parties when considering voluntary disclosure of the documents and information it holds.
Once a private prosecution has commenced, the private prosecutor can apply for a witness summons to secure the production of relevant material.