CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
Aim: To explore the role of the Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS)
Objectives:
 Explain the historical background to
prosecution
 Identify the structure and organisation of the
CPS
 Critically assess whether there was a need
for the CPS
WHAT IS THE CPS?
The CPS is a Government Department which prosecutes
people in England and Wales who have been charged
with a criminal offence.
It is independent of the police, but works closely with
them at all times.
THE HISTORY OF THE CPS
PRIOR TO 1879
 There
was no public
prosecutor to
take criminal cases to
court. People had to
find their own lawyers
or present the
prosecution
cases themselves.
1879

Police forces grew
and took on the
responsibility for
starting criminal
proceedings. Each
prosecution was
brought by the
arresting officer.
1879

There was also a step forward as the office of Director
of Public Prosecution (DPP) was set up. The function of
the DPP was to bring prosecution in serious cases.

They had a role to advise the police and personally
act in cases of importance
1962 – WILLINK COMMISSION


Not acceptable for the police to use the same officers
to investigate and prosecute cases.
It recommended that all police forces should have their
own solicitors department.
1970 – JUSTICE REPORT




This report argued that an independent body was the
best way to safeguard fairness and impartiality.
It argued that the police were not best suited to be
prosecutors because they would often have a
commitment to winning a case even when the evidence
was weak (Prosecution bias).
They were also not best placed to consider the public
policy aspects of the discretion to prosecute.
Conflict of interest

Potential infringement of right to fair trial.
1978 – PHILLIPS COMMISSION
Three main criticisms:




The police should not investigate offences and
decide whether to prosecute.
Different police forces used different standards to
decide whether to prosecute.
The police were allowing too many weak cases to
come to court.
1981

It was agreed that the police should continue to make
the first decision whether or not to prosecute, but, once
a decision had been made to proceed, the file would
be passed to an independent body.
PROSECUTION OF OFFENCES ACT 1985
 The
1982 Home Office White Paper: An
Independent Prosecution Service for England
and Wales argued for a national prosecution
service.
 Parliament
passed the Prosecution of
Offences Act 1985 which created the Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS) with the Director of
Public Prosecutions as its head.
GLIDEWELL REPORT 1998

A highly critical report published by a review body
headed by Sir Ian Glidewell in June 1998 concluded:


that the CPS had failed to achieve the expected improvements in
the prosecution system since it was set up in 1986.
It had become
bureaucratic
 and over centralised.


The report depicted a service where charges were thought to be
inappropriately downgraded.
 And a disproportionately large number of serious violent offences
were not prosecuted.

As a result of the Glidewell Report, the CPS underwent a
major structural re-organisation in 1999.
 Its operations were de-centralised so as to realign the
CPS areas to match the boundaries of the Police Forces.
 There were originally 13 CPS areas there are now 42 to
match the 43 police forces of England and Wales.
(London has 2 Police Forces).
 New Chief Crown Prosecutors (CCPs) for the 42 areas
were appointed in 1999.
 The CCPs will be accountable to the local communities
and according to the CPS:


will enable good working relationships with other agencies in the
criminal justice system;
courts
 police
 judiciary.

GROUP DISCUSSION TASK
Do you think that there was a need for an independent body such as the
CPS?
TAKE IT ONE STEP FURTHER...
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having
an independent prosecution body such as the Crown
Prosecution Service?
QUICK RECAP
1)
What is the CPS?
2)
What Act introduced the CPS?
3)
What did the Phillips Report 1981 say?
ORGANISATION OF THE CPS
Alison Saunders is the new
Director of Public
Prosecutions
She is the first DPP to be
appointed from within the
CPS
The DPP is supervised and appointed
by the Attorney General.
The current
Attorney General
is Dominic Grieve
The CPS has divided the country into
42 areas, a Crown Prosecutor will head
one of the 42 areas.
Each area is sub-divided
into branches, which
are headed by
Branch Crown
Prosecutor
Within each branch there are
 Several lawyers, and
 Support staff
They are divided into teams and given
responsibility for cases. The team will
then be responsible for the case
throughout the prosecution process
ROLE OF THE CPS
THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CPS

The CPS’ main role is the prosecution of alleged criminal
offenders in England and Wales. However, this role
includes five main functions.

Crown Prosecutors are responsible for deciding whether a
person should be charged with a criminal offence and
what that offence should be.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2003
 S. 28 of the CJA 2003 took away the power of
charging a D from the police to the CPS, except in
minor offences.
 Lord Auld in his Criminal Courts Review made this
reform hoping to improve the relationship between
the CPS and the police so that they work efficiently
together in preparing a case for trial.
 The pilot scheme was successful, convictions rose to
15% and instances of charges being dropped fell
from 51% to 18%.

The CPS and the police work closely together, but the final
responsibility for the decision rests with the CPS.

Being responsible for the case after it has been passed to them
by the police.

Conducting and preparing the prosecution of cases in the
Magistrates’ and Crown Court; this is usually done by lawyers
working in the CPS as Crown Prosecutors.

Another vital function is working with other organisations to
improve the effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System.
The CPS provides guidance to prosecutors and police on
application of the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
CORE QUALITY STANDARDS
The DPP has recently issued Core Quality Standards. The
Core Quality Standards informs the public what they can
expect from the CPS when they prosecute individuals.
 See:
www.cps.gov.uk/publications/core_quality_standards

EXAMPLES OF SOME STANDARDS
Standard 1: We will provide the police and other
investigators with advice to assist in tackling crime
effectively and bringing offenders to justice.
 Standard 2: We will make timely, effective and fair
charging decisions in accordance with the Code for
Crown Prosecutors.


Clearly, the DPP sees an enhanced role for the CPS and
wants the CPS to engage more with the community.
KEY DUTIES OF THE CPS
Advising the police on cases for possible prosecution.
 Determine the charge in all but minor cases.
 Preparing cases for court.
 The presentation of cases at court.
 Appointing private barristers and solicitors to present
cases at court.

CODE OF PRACTICE
Once in receipt of the papers the CPS is under a duty to see
if the prosecution should continue.
Due to the criticisms of the number of discontinued cases the
DPP issued a revised Code of Practice for the CPS.
DOWNGRADING PROSECUTIONS
The CPS are able to downgrade prosecutions. This power
to downgrade or discontinue was intended to save money
where cases could not be proven.
 However, this power has caused tension and alienation
between the CPS and the police.
 Nonetheless, in 2008-2009 80.7% of cases dealt with by
the CPS resulted in conviction.


The CPS has a great deal of discretion over whether or not to
prosecute. There is no obligation to prosecute whenever a crime
has been committed. Indeed, prosecuting all offenders would
require many times the facilities and manpower available.
REVIEW THE PAPERS

After the police have investigated a crime and passed
the papers to the CPS, one of the lawyers – called a
Crown Prosecutor, now also referred to as Public
Prosecutors - carefully reviews the papers to decide
whether or not to go ahead with the case.
S.10 PROSECUTION OF

OFFENCES ACT 1985
The prosecutor’s decision is based on the FULL CODE
TEST set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, s.10
Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. The purpose of the
Code is to promote efficient and consistent decisionmaking in order to develop and maintain public
confidence in the CPS.
TESTS – TO PROSECUTE OR NOT?
1)
2)
The two main tests set in the Code are:
Evidential test – whether there is enough evidence to
provide a ‘realistic prospect of conviction’.
Public interest test – whether it is in the public interest
to prosecute.
A case has to pass both these tests before the CPS can
start or continue a prosecution.
ACTIVITY
http://www.cps.gov.uk/education/11-18/decision-tocharge.html
THE EVIDENTIAL TEST

To examine a case, the prosecutor reviews it to see if
there is enough evidence to provide a ‘realistic prospect
of conviction.’

The Crown Prosecutor will look at the evidence as to
whether it can be used in court and how reliable the
evidence is.
UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE
Blurred CCTV
 Confession obtained by oppression
 Hearsay
 Eyewitness testimony of a child.

RELIABLE EVIDENCE
DNA
 Voluntary confession
 Eyewitness from the scene of a crime
 Clear CCTV.

WHAT ELSE WILL THE CPS CONSIDER?

They will also consider whether a magistrates or a jury,
given such evidence, will convict the defendant.

The main purpose of the review is to ensure that only fit
and proper cases are brought before the courts.
NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE
If there is not enough evidence and the police state that
there is no more evidence or any real prospect of more
becoming available, the case will be stopped, under s.
23 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.
 Nonetheless, the CPS can, and does still ask the police to
look at the case gain if more evidence should become
available.

TOO MANY DISCONTINUED
There have been strong criticisms over the number of
cases in which the CPS decides that the prosecution should
be discontinued.
 This is supported by statistics which show that every year
the CPS discontinues over 150,000 cases.
‘The powers of the CPS to discontinue cases…caused
frustration on the part of victims.’- Davies, Croall and
Tyrer.

IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
If a prosecutor thinks that there is enough evidence to
start or continue a prosecution, he or she will then
consider whether a prosecution is needed ‘in the public
interest.’
 The prosecutor must think carefully about all the factors
for and against a prosecution, and assess in each case
whether a prosecution should go ahead.

WEIGHING OF FACTORS
This test is controversial as it involves very wide ranging
considerations.
 The Code of Practice gives lists of some ‘common public
interests factors’ both for and against prosecution.
 The list is not exhaustive and that factors that will apply
depend on the facts in each case.

EXAMPLES OF FACTORS IN FAVOUR OF PROSECUTION
The offence involved the use of a weapon
 The offence was committed against a person serving the
public
 A conviction is likely to result in a significant sentence.

EXAMPLES OF FACTORS AGAINST PROSECUTION
The suspect has put right the loss or harm that was caused
 The offence was committed as a result of a mistake or
genuine misunderstanding
 The suspect played a minor role in the commission of the
offence.

IF BOTH TESTS ARE SATISFIED
If both tests are satisfied the CPS should select charges:
 which reflect the seriousness and extent of the offence
 give the court adequate powers to sentence
 enable the case to be presented in a clear and simple
way.
WWW.CPS.GOV.UK

The Code for Crown Prosecutors was clarified and
updated in Feb 2010 – check the website for more
details – www.cps.gov.uk

Read: page 6 ‘Policy for Prosecutors in respect of cases
of Encouraging or Assisting Suicide’.
THE THRESHOLD TEST

There are occasions when the CPS decides that the Full
Code test has failed, and there is not enough evidence to
charge, but at the same time there is still the belief that
the suspect is too much of a risk to be released. In such
cases the Threshold test will be used.
THE THRESHOLD TEST ASKS...
‘Will the suspect be charged?’ The CPS will
consider:
 ‘Is there a realistic prospect of conviction?’ and
 ‘Is there a reasonable suspicion that the person
arrested has committed the offence in question?
If both of the above are satisfied then the CPS
will apply the Public interest test in the Full Code
Test.
RECAP QUESTIONS
What is the main function of the CPS?
 What Act introduced the CPS?
 Name three key duties of the CPS?
 What are the two main tests in deciding whether or not to
pursue a case? Explain each.
 What is the Threshold Test? When is it used?

CONCLUSION
 The
CPS is a Government Department which
prosecutes people in England and Wales.
 It was brought in by the Prosecution of
Offences Act 1985. Prior to this it was the
police who brought prosecutions.
 Since the CJA 2003 CPS now also decide
the charges in all but minor offences (s.28).
 Some of their key duties include preparing
cases for court and presenting cases at
court.
 Once
in receipt of the papers the CPS is under a
duty to see if the prosecution should continue.
 The FULL CODE TEST set out in the Code for Crown
Prosecutors, s.10 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985
will be used.
 The two main tests set in the Code are:
1. Evidential test – is there enough evidence to
provide a ‘realistic prospect of conviction’.
2. Public interest test – is it in the public interest to
prosecute.
 Both
tests must be passed for the CPS to continue a
prosecution.
 Where the Full Code test has failed, there is not
enough evidence to charge but at the same time
there is still the belief that the suspect is too much
of a risk to be released, the Threshold test will be
used.
 The CPS will consider:
‘Is there a realistic prospect of conviction?’ and ‘Is
there a reasonable suspicion that the person
arrested has committed the offence in question?’