Informer

Informer, in English law, the person who sues for a penalty under some statute. In many statutes which define offences—not criminal, but savouring of criminality—encouragement is often given to persons who are willing to sue on behalf of the crown, the pecuniary penalty or part of it being given to the informer. This kind of action is called a qui tam action, from the use of the words qui tam pro dominâ reginâ quam pro scîpso, &c. In criminal proceedings an accomplice who turns king's evidence, if accepted as a witness by the crown, is called an approver or prover. Ever since the days of the professional 'sycophant' at Athens the informer has been regarded as an odious character. In Ireland, owing to the unsatisfactory relations between the government and the people, almost any person who gives evidence against a prisoner runs the risk of making himself unpopular. In Chancery proceedings at the suit of the attorney-general the informer is called a relator. In Scotland an informer is the party who sets the Lord Advocate in motion in criminal prosecutions, and the Lord Advocate is bound to give up the name of the informer, who is liable in case of malicious prosecutions. See APPROVER, SPY.