Legal Definitions - lack of prosecution

Lack of prosecution refers to a situation where a party involved in a legal case, typically the one who initiated the action (such as a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit or a prosecutor in a criminal case), fails to take the necessary steps or actions to advance the case within a reasonable or legally specified timeframe.

When this happens, a court may dismiss the case due to the inactivity of the party responsible for moving it forward. This dismissal can sometimes be "without prejudice," meaning the case could potentially be refiled later, or "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled.

• Example 1 (Civil Lawsuit - Plaintiff's Inaction):

  Imagine a person files a personal injury lawsuit after a car accident. After the initial complaint is filed, they fail to respond to the defendant's requests for information (known as "discovery requests") for several months, miss deadlines for filing their own required documents, and do not appear at a scheduled status conference with the judge. The defendant's attorney could then ask the court to dismiss the case.

  This demonstrates a lack of prosecution because the plaintiff, who initiated the lawsuit, is not actively pursuing their claim by failing to meet court deadlines and respond to legal requests, thus preventing the case from moving forward. The court might dismiss their case due to this inaction.

• Example 2 (Civil Lawsuit - Business Dispute):

  A small business sues a former client for an unpaid invoice. After filing the lawsuit, the business's attorney becomes unresponsive, doesn't properly serve the client with the legal papers within the statutory period, and doesn't schedule any further court proceedings for over a year. The client, or even the court on its own initiative, might notice this prolonged inactivity.

  Here, the business, as the plaintiff, is failing to prosecute its claim. By not properly serving the defendant or taking steps to move the case through the court system, they are not actively pursuing the resolution of the dispute, which could lead to the court dismissing the case for lack of prosecution.

• Example 3 (Criminal Case - Prosecutor's Inaction):

  A person is arrested and charged with a crime. The prosecutor's office files the charges but then repeatedly postpones hearings, fails to provide requested evidence to the defense, and does not bring the case to trial within the time limits set by "speedy trial" laws, despite the defendant being ready to proceed. The defense attorney could then file a motion to dismiss the charges.

  This illustrates a lack of prosecution from the government's side. The prosecutor, responsible for pursuing the criminal charges, is not diligently moving the case towards resolution, potentially violating the defendant's right to a speedy trial and leading to the dismissal of the charges.