Petition · past parliament

make wrongly reporting someone to a law enforcement agency a criminal offence

Closed 65 signatures

What the petition asks

At present people who deliberately mislead the police by making false accusations may be prosecuted for a number of offences such as wasting police time or attempting to pervert the court of justice. There is no similar offence where malicious claims are made to other law enforcement agencies.
There are regular prosecutions for wasting police time. Where a person acting maliciously reports his victim to the local authority, the RSPCA, trading standards, health and safety executive, the benefits agency, etc. the effects on the victim can be equally distressing, as well as costly in time and money for both the victim and the investigating agency. Civil redress would usually involve the High Court with a defamation action or similar and is beyond the means of many victims.

Timeline

22 Mar 2018 Petition opened for signatures
22 Sep 2018 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 65
Status Closed
Opened 22 Mar 2018
Closed 22 Sep 2018

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.