|
Crown Prosecution Service
Until 1986 prosecutions brought by the state were conducted by the police. The obvious criticism of this was that there was a conflict of interest because the same body that investigated a crime then prosecuted the case in the courts. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was set up, independent of the police, to review and conduct prosecutions by the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 and started operating in 1986.
 The head of the CPS is the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the current DPP is Keir Starmer QC, who took up office on 1 November 2008. He in turn is 'supervised' by the Attorney General who is ultimately responsible to Parliament for the CPS. To see a recent example (January 2011) of the DPP, Keir Starmer, being questioned by a committee of Members of Parliament (MPs) click here
Below the Director of Public Prosecutions are Chief Crown Prosecutors who each head one of the 42 areas into which the country is divided. Each of these 42 areas is sub-divided into branches, each of which is headed by a Branch Crown Prosecutor. Finally within each of these branches are several lawyers and support staff who are organised in teams and given responsibility for cases.
The Functions of the Crown Prosecution Service
These involve all aspects of the prosecution of a case and include;
-
Making the final decision on what offence the accused is charged with
-
Being fully responsible for the case once it has been passed to them by the police
-
Reviewing all cases to see if there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed
-
Conducting the prosecution of cases in the Magistrates' Court
-
Conducting the prosecution of cases in the Crown Court
Code of Practice
The DPP issued a code of practice for the CPS (the latest in 2010) which show which factors should be taken into account when deciding whether to go ahead with a prosecution. The most important factors which must be considered are in two parts as follows;
The Evidential Test
-
 Is there enough evidence to provide a 'realistic prospect of conviction' in the case
-
Was the evidence collected under the rules of PACE
-
Is the evidence admissible
-
The background of any witnesses
-
The strength of any identification evidence
The Public Interest Test
The code of practice gives lists of some of the 'common public interest factors' both for and against prosecution. To see the lists of factors for and against prosecution click here
Search for more on the Crown Prosecution Service from here
|