
Nolle prosequi

, abbreviated or , is legal Latin meaning "to be unwilling to pursue". In Commonwealth and US common law, it is used for prosecutors' declarations that they are voluntarily ending a criminal case before trial or before a verdict is rendered; it is a kind of motion to dismiss and contrasts with an involuntary dismissal.
Application in United States law.
"Nolle prosequi" as a declaration is most often used in criminal cases, but in jurisdictions making use of "nolle prosequi" in civil lawsuits, it is used by a plaintiff that voluntarily drops its claims. In civil cases, a retraxit or a motion for voluntary dismissal may be made by a plaintiff instead of a declaration of "nolle prosequi", depending upon the custom and rules of a given jurisdiction.
Decision-maker.
"Nolle prosequi" as a declaration can be made by a prosecutor in a criminal case either before or during trial, resulting in the prosecutor declining to further pursue the case against the defendant. Courts seldom challenge applications for "nolle prosequi". In the United States, judges will usually sign a dismissal order prepared by the prosecution or make a docket entry indicating the disposition of the case to be "nolle prosse" after a declaration or motion by the prosecution.
In criminal cases in the United States it has been held improper for a court to enter an order of "nolle prosequi" on its own, without a motion by the prosecutor, but as to sentencing discrepancies involved in a sentence recommendation, a trial judge is authorized to reject an underlying guilty plea based upon concerns of fairness and justice or because it is presented after the plea cutoff date. The notes to Rule 48 of the US Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (FRCRP) draw attention to the effect of the rule as contrasting with common law. Rule 48 now mandates that prosecutors seek leave of the court before they dismiss a case via filing a "nolle prosequi".
Reason.
The declaration may be made because the charges cannot be proved because vital witnesses have become unavailable or uncooperative, the evidence is too weak to carry the burden of proof, the evidence is fatally flawed in light of the claims that are brought, the prosecutor becomes doubtful that the accused is guilty, the defendant's innocence is proved, or the defendant has died. It has also been used when a federal criminal charge is brought up against a defendant when the prosecutor on a state charge for the same offense no longer wishes to pursue the case. Usually, that happens when the state prosecutor is content with the sentence on the federal charge and has no need to go any further with the original case.
Timing.
In criminal cases, "nolle prosequi" declarations are made generally after an indictment as long as adjudication on the merits has not occurred or, in some jurisdictions, as long as a trial has not commenced. In civil cases, "nolle prosequi" declarations are made either before the trial begins or before a judgment on the merits is rendered, depending on the rules of the jurisdiction.
Legal effect.
The entry of a "nolle prosequi" is not an acquittal. Since the principle of double jeopardy therefore does not apply, the defendant may later be indicted on the same charge again.
Application in civil cases.
In civil cases, a "nolle prosequi" or voluntary dismissal may be entered as to one of several counts or claims, or as to one of several defendants, or both. In any jurisdiction, whether a motion for voluntary dismissal or a declaration of "nolle prosequi" is used, federal and state rules of civil procedure generally govern when, how, and why claims may be voluntarily dismissed and apply different rules to different types of claims and to whether a court may give leave to dismiss a matter with or without prejudice.
Similarity to a declination of prosecution.
"Nolle prosequi" is similar to a declination of prosecution, which is an agreement not to prosecute made before any charges are brought or suit has been filed. A declination of prosecution may be made by an attorney or may be made as an agreement between the aggrieved party and the claimant.
In contrast, "nolle prosequi" is usually made after a decision to prosecute has already been made. A declination of prosecution may be made for many reasons, such as weak evidence or a conflict of interest.
Application and legal effect in English law.
The power of entering a "nolle prosequi" is now rarely used, mostly in cases where a defendant is permanently physically or mentally unfit to appear in court, or when an ordinary member of the public has brought private criminal proceedings which the Attorney General considers it is not in the public interest to continue. In the past, it was also used to protect a person to who was given immunity from prosecution. A "nolle prosequi" acts as an indefinite adjournment to the case, not an acquittal. While terminating the proceedings, it does not bar the defendant from being indicted again, but there is no known case of this happening in the century before 1957, or since.
However, in the Al-Yamamah arms deal, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office was pressured by the Attorney General to terminate an investigation into a claim that BAE Systems had bribed
influential persons in Saudi Arabia to secure a profitable defence contract. Although initial pressure from BAE on the grounds of economic damage and the disruption of friendly relations
with Saudi Arabia was resisted both by the Director and the Attorney General, further pressure from the Prime Minister, under pressure from the Saudi government which threatened to end co-operation with against terrorism, resulted in the Director agreeing to halt the investigation. The Director's decision was challenged by several public interest organisations, and their challenge succeeded in the Divisional Court (England and Wales) but failed in the House of Lords on the basis that the Director would have known that the Attorney General could stop any prosecution agreed to by the Director by entering a "nolle prosequi", and so his decision not to prosecute was reasonable and lawful. 
Decision-maker and timing.
Only the Attorney General can enter a "nolle prosequi", acting in the public interest. The Attorney General is not answerable to the courts but to Parliament for how this the power is exercised. It can be entered at any stage after an indictment has been signed and before a Crown Court judgment is made. A "nolle prosequi" will usually be requested from the Attorney General by the defence but an application can also be made by the prosecution.
"Nolle prosequi" in other jurisdictions.
Canada.
The equivalent power in Canada is a Crown-directed stay of charges. This causes the prosecution to be suspended for a period of one year before an outright dismissal; in practice stayed prosecutions are almost never recommenced.
Ireland.
The power of entering a "nolle prosequi" in the Republic of Ireland rests with the director of public prosecutions, and its use is normally in cases where there are problems with the evidence that would make it difficult for the case to proceed. The director may in theory pursue the prosecution later, but this rarely, if ever, happens. As the accused enjoys the presumption of innocence that all accused people enjoy until they are convicted, an entry of a "nolle prosequi" is equated with innocence. This power is quite widely used: in 2013 in 376 cases of rape, about one-quarter of the total of indictments for this offence, were ended by an entry of a "nolle prosequi".
Australia.
Although there are differences in practice between the different states and territories, the attorney-general, solicitor-general or designated law officer in each may enter a "nolle prosequi", with the effects that the indictment is not proceeded with and the accused person is discharged. Although the general practice is not to revive the proceedings, this may be done if important new evidence comes to light or where it is in the interests of justice to do so. It is not uncommon for a "nolle prosequi" to be entered because the evidence available to the prosecution is often not reviewed by senior prosecuting counsel, and found to be inadequate a few days before the trial date, or a witness refuses to testify.
Attempts by the prosecution to enter a "nolle prosequi" in order to avoid a trial which has started from reaching its conclusion, for example, where a jury may have signalled their likely verdict, where the case has gone badly for the prosecution or where the prosecutor has proceeded without an unavailable witness, have been regarded by the Australian courts as an abuse of process, as the prosecution may hope to reinstate the charges before a different jury or with the missing witness. This rule applies even if entering the "nolle prosequi" was not challenged when it was done. A number of other cases have been brought before the Australian courts, claiming that the reinstatement of charges after enter a "nolle prosequi" is an abuse of process in other circumstances. None has succeeded, as the relevant circumstances did not constitute abuse, but the appellate court stated that there could be case where making a charge following the entering of a "nolle" could be oppressive and so an abuse of the court process.
India.
In India this power is guided by Section 321 of Criminal Procedure Code which enables the public prosecutor or the assistant public prosecutor to withdraw from the prosecution of any person either generally or in respect of any one or more of the offences for which he is tried. For doing so, consent of the court is necessary.
Nigeria.
An attorney-general is the chief law officer both of the Federation of Nigeria and of each Nigerian state, and is also a government minister there. Under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, the federal attorney-general has powers to institute or to take over and continue any criminal proceedings, and to discontinue them at any stage before a final judgement is delivered. The last power gives statutory authority to the practice of "nolle prosequi", which has existed in Nigeria since the colonial era. It is not necessary for the attorney-general to ask for the consent of the court hearing the case, as was confirmed by the Federal Appeal Court in 1981. During the Second Nigerian Republic of 1979-1983, the state attorneys-general also had the power to issue a "nolle prosequi", and abused this power in a few notorious cases, but this power is now only available to the federal attorney-general.
Ghana.
The Attorney-General of Ghana has statutory power to issue a "nolle prosequi" under the Ghanaian Criminal Procedure Code of 1960, which acts to discontinue any criminal proceedings before a final judgement is made. A "nolle prosequi" was issued in several cases in 2001, when criminal libel cases brought against several journalists by one political party when in power were discontinued after a change of government A number of cases have been brought on whether there are any restrictions on the attorney-general's discretion when issuing a "nolle prosequi". These have concluded that "nolle prosequi" terminates a case in favour of the accused, without preventing new proceedings being issued later, and that the attorney general is answerable neither to the court in which the case was discontinued nor to any appellate court. However, these cases predate the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which gives the Supreme Court oversight of any discretionary power vested in any person, although no case has been brought against any Attorney-General of Ghana for failure to use his discretion fairly, despite claims of political bias in the use of "nolle prosequi".