Thread by @AdamWagner1

Has anyone got to the bottom as to whether there would be any way of retrospectively prosecuting (seems unlikely because of 6-month rule) or giving a fixed penalty notice for the No.10 parties? There used to be saving provisions for fixed penalty notices bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

I'm sorry, the tweet above is wrong - the time limit is 6 months beginning on the date the prosecutor thinks it is sufficient to justify proceedings comes to the prosecutor's knowledge. See the CPS charging guidance (thanks to the person who sent it to me) cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance…

So in theory an offence last Christmas which only came to the CPS's knowledge recently could be prosecuted.

I don't know about Fixed Penalty Notices as I would need to look at the saving provisions to see if they can still be imposed.

Missed out the word “evidence” in second tweet

This appears to be answer about fixed penalty notices -still available

https://twitter.com/charlescholland/status/1467217054277283851?s=20

So, both a £10,000 fixed penalty notice, and a prosecution under the regulations in place at the time, are at the least possible.

There is one more barrier, which is the possibility that the Covid regulations didn't apply to No. 10 because of section 73 of the Public Health Act which *may* mean Crown Property isn't caught by the regulations without an agreement. But it's obscure

legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/22/…

By which I mean the meaning of section 73 is obscure. I am not convinced it is obvious the regulations wouldn't apply to crown property and I think this would have to be resolved by a court unless a specific agreement applies