In The Queen, on the Prosecution of Tomlinson v. The Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (1899) 1 Q.B., 909, A. L. Smith LJ: “Another case in which the Attorney-General is pre-eminent is the power to enter a nolle prosequi in a criminal case. I do not say that when a case is before a judge a prosecutor may not ask the judge to allow the case to be withdrawn, and the judge may do so if he is satisfied that there is no case; but the Attorney-General alone has power to enter a nolle prosequi, and that power is not subject to any control.” “It follows that his decisions (sic. Attorney-General’s), when exercising such functions, were not subject to review by the Queen’s Bench Division or this Court (sic. Court of Appeal)”
SOME CASES WHERE THE AG HAS ENTERED A NOLLE PROSEQUI
✓ In R. v. Bereford (1952) 36 Cr. App. R. 1, the Attorney-General entered a nolle prosequi against the indictment of an accused person after a coroner’s jury had returned a verdict of manslaughter against the man, whereas he had been previously convicted of dangerous driving in respect of the same death.
✓ In R. v. Harrison (1951) 1 K.B. 107 the Attorney-General entered a nolle prosequi against the second count of an indictment were the jury had discharged the accused person on one count of the indictment but disagreed on the other count.