Public Law, Private Enforcement Citizen Duties

Abstract This chapter examines a further set of exceptions to the public enforcement paradigm in public law, in which citizens and corporations are granted rights to enforce the public law duties of their fellow citizens. The examples fall under three headings: the private right to sue for public nuisances; popular actions in which private ‘Attorney-Generals’ are authorized to protect public interests by bringing actions qui tam (for reward), or citizen suits: and rights of private prosecution in the criminal law. Particular attention is devoted to qui tam actions under the Federal Claims Act 1863 in the United States and citizen suits under the Clean Air Act. The chapter describes the private enforcement regimes in each case, examines the way in which such rights are controlled, and identifies their varied and often controversial rationales. The chapter includes discussion of the Texas heartbeat laws and Post Office private prosecution scandal in the United Kingdom and canvases solutions to the problems that such cases throw up.