The
Crown Prosecution Service, or
CPS, is a
non-ministerial departmentA non-ministerial government department is a department or ministry of a government that is not headed by a Government Minister or Government Secretary, and answers directly to a legislature ....
of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and the Public Prosecution Service in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The CPS is headed by the
Director of Public ProsecutionsThe Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
(currently
Keir StarmerKeir Starmer, QC, is a barrister in England and Wales. He became the fourteenth Director of Public Prosecutions and the sixth head of the Crown Prosecution Service on 1 November 2008...
QCQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
) who answers to the
Attorney General for England and WalesHer Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
(currently
Dominic GrieveDominic Charles Roberts Grieve, QC MP is a British Conservative politician, barrister and Queen's Counsel.He is the Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield and the Attorney General for England and Wales and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland.-Early life:Grieve was born in Lambeth, the son of...
,
QCQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
,
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
).
The Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for criminal cases beyond the investigation, which is the role of the police. This involves giving advice to the police on charges to bring, being responsible for authorising all but a very few simple charges (such as
beggingBegging is to entreat earnestly, implore, or supplicate. It often occurs for the purpose of securing a material benefit, generally for a gift, donation or charitable donation...
), and preparing and presenting cases for court, both in magistrates' courts and, increasingly, the
Crown CourtThe Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
.
History
Historically, in England, with no police forces and no prosecution service, the only route to prosecution was through private prosecutions brought by victims at their own expense or lawyers acting on their behalf. From 1829 onwards, as the police forces began to form, they began to take on the burden of bringing prosecutions against suspected criminals.
In 1880, Sir John Maule was appointed to be the first Director of Public Prosecutions, operating as a part of the
Home OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
; the jurisdiction was only for the decision as to whether to prosecute, and just for a very small number of difficult or important cases; once prosecution had been authorised, the matter was turned over to the Treasury Solicitor. Police forces continued to be responsible for the bulk of cases, sometimes referring difficult ones to the Director. In 1884, the offices of the DPP and the Treasury Solicitor were merged, but were again separated by the Prosecution of Offences Act 1908.
In 1962, a
Royal CommissionIn Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
recommended that police forces set up independent prosecution departments so as to avoid having the same officers investigate and prosecute cases though, technically, the prosecuting police officers did so as private citizens.
However, the Royal Commission's recommendation was not implemented by all police forces, and so in 1978 another Royal Commission was set up, this time headed by
Sir Cyril PhilipsSir Cyril Henry Philips, December 27 1912 – December 29 2005, born in Worcester and knighted in 1974 was a noted historian and academic director.-Early life:...
. It reported in 1981, recommending that a single unified Crown Prosecution Service with responsibility for all public prosecutions in England and Wales be set up. A
White PaperA white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
was released in 1983, becoming the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, which established the CPS under the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions, consisting of a merger of his old department with the existing police prosecution departments. It started operating in 1986.
The power of the police to charge for all but the most minor offences was transferred to the CPS following the
Criminal Justice Act 2003The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Northern Ireland....
.
Organisational structure
The CPS is divided into 13 geographical Areas across England and Wales. Each Area is led by a Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) who is responsible for the provision of a high quality prosecution service in their Area. Each CCP is supported by an Area Business Manager (ABM), and their respective roles mirror, at a local level, the responsibilities of the DPP and Chief Executive. Administrative support to Areas is provided by Area Operations Centres. A 'virtual' 14th Area, CPS Direct, is also headed by a CCP and provides out-of-hours charging decisions to the police.
Each area is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor who reports directly to the Director of Public Prosecutions. In London, the Chief Crown Prosecutor is supported by Sector Directors. Although Chief Crown Prosecutors are directly accountable for the prosecutions in each area, most of the responsibility for the business administration of the area is overseen by an Area Business Manager.
The CPS is the largest employer of lawyers in the UK, dealing exclusively with criminal prosecutions. At the end of March 2006, it employed a total of 8,775 people; almost a third of which were qualified prosecutors. They deal with more than 1.3 million cases annually in the Magistrates' court and approximately 115,000 in the Crown Court. Other staff include Associate Prosecutors, who are not qualified lawyers but are specially trained to review and present limited range of cases in magistrates' courts, paralegal staff who carry out work required to implement decisions and progress existing cases, and administrative staff who deal with tasks such as tracking the progress of cases, liaising with other agencies, matching incoming material to case files and copying and sending out documents.
The headquarters in South-East London sets national business strategies; develops and delivers policies, practices and procedures for the prosecution process; delivers IT and other services; deal with issues such as equality and diversity issues for the organisation and provides administrative support to areas.
Complementing the bulk of qualified lawyers prosecuting in-area, the Crown Prosecution Service also has the following two specialist casework groups:
- Central Fraud Group based in London, Manchester in York, concentrating on the country's most serious and complex cases of fraud and associated dishonesty offences
- Serious Crime Group which is further divided into two divisions
- Organised Crime
- Special Crime & Counter Terrorism
On 2 March 2004 the Director of Public Prosecutions commented on a rumoured re-naming of the service to the 'Public Prosecution Service':
Some suggest that such a change would undermine the constitutional role of the department, nominally at least. It is unclear whether a name change is imminent, or is still being discussed at all. This proposed change was very unpopular within the Service as being pointless and otiose, as well as somehow insulting.
Role
In 2009, the Director of Public Prosecutions
Keir StarmerKeir Starmer, QC, is a barrister in England and Wales. He became the fourteenth Director of Public Prosecutions and the sixth head of the Crown Prosecution Service on 1 November 2008...
QCQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
announced the introduction of the
Core Quality Standards, a set of twelve standards which outline what the service does, how decisions are made, and the service that the public can expect. It is akin to
The Policing PledgeThe Policing Pledge was a United Kingdom - Home Office initiative to restore public faith back within the territorial police forces of the UK. The pledge was a set of ten promises from the police about the services that they provide. All 43 police forces within England and Wales have agreed to keep...
.
Decision to prosecute
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the basis upon which prosecutions are refused, discontinued or proceeded with. A case will only be prosecuted firstly, if there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each defendant on each charge, and secondly, if it is in the public interest to prosecute.
The Crown Prosecution Service must first decide, after evidence is gathered by the police, whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to be prosecuted (by way of
summonsLegally, a summons is a legal document issued by a court or by an administrative agency of government for various purposes.-Judicial summons:...
to court or
criminal chargeA criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can take several forms, including:* complaint...
). Officers provide the prosecutor with the evidence gathered and although there may be a decision not to charge at that stage, the prosecutor will assist the officer by explaining what additional work or evidence could raise the case to the required standard. If further evidence is not available, no further action may be taken against the suspect.
If there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, Crown Prosecutors must still decide whether a prosecution would be in the public interest. Paragraph 4.12 of
The Code for Crown Prosecutors states: "A prosecution will usually take place unless the prosecutor is sure that there are public interest factors tending against prosecution which outweigh those tending in favour, or unless the prosecutor is satisfied that the public interest may be properly served, in the first instance, by offering the offender the opportunity to have the matter dealt with by an out-of-court disposal. The more serious the offence or the record of criminal behaviour, the more likely it is that a prosecution will be required in the public interest." Examples of public interest factors that may be taken into account include the likelihood of the court imposing a nominal penalty or if the offence was the result of a mistake or misunderstanding.
The CPS will only start or continue a prosecution if a case has passed both tests
Pre-charge advice and charging decisions given by prosecutors in this way takes place at police stations, local CPS offices, or over the telephone.
Charging decisions involve the prosecutor applying his or her knowledge of the law to the facts before them; in some cases there may be more than one criminal offence that applies to the circumstances of the case. In order to achieve consistency in the decision-making process, prosecutors refer to
Charging Standards for offences, agreed between the CPS and Police. In addition, they may refer to current CPS policy and guidance on the prosecution of certain types of offences, such as domestic violence and hate crime.
On 20 December 2004, following a public consultation exercise, the Attorney General published a report "Pre-Trial Witness Interviews by Prosecutors". The report concluded that prosecutors should be permitted to speak to witnesses, including children and vulnerable witnesses, about matters of evidence. A similar practice is already carried out in Scotland (where it is called
precognitionPrecognition in Scots law is the practice of taking a factual statement from witnesses before a trial is enjoined. This is often undertaken by trainee lawyers or precognition officers employed by firms. Many of these are former policemen....
),
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In November 2005, the Director of Public Prosecutions reported that a pilot scheme was being introduced where the CPS would be allowed to interview witnesses before taking a case to trial. The pilot scheme took place in Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester between January 2006 and February 2007. An assessment of the scheme concluded that it brought benefits to the prosecuting process and helped to strengthen cases to be brought to trial and also identify those that should be discontinued on evidential grounds. National rollout of the scheme took place in April 2008 and is supported by a Code of Practice, issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, which provides guidance to prosecutors conducting pre-trial interviews with witnesses.
List of Directors of Public Prosecutions since 1986
- Sir Thomas Hetherington, QC
Major Sir Thomas Chalmers Hetherington, KCB, CBE, QC, TD , better known as Sir Tony Hetherington, was a British barrister. He was Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales from 1977 to 1987, and was the first head of the Crown Prosecution Service for the year after it was founded in...
(1986–1987) (had been DPP since 1977)
- Sir Allan Green, QC
Sir Allan David Green, KCB , QC is a barrister in England and Wales. He was Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales and second head of the Crown Prosecution Service from 1987 to 1992....
(1987–1992)
- Dame Barbara Mills, DBE, QC
Dame Barbara Jean Lyon Mills, DBE, QC was a British barrister. She held various senior public appointments including Director of Public Prosecutions, and was widely seen as a pioneer for women gaining such appointments in the higher echelons of the legal profession...
(1992–1998)
- Sir David Calvert-Smith, QC
Sir David Calvert-Smith , styled The Hon. Mr Justice Calvert-Smith, was Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales from 1998 to 2003 and is now a High Court judge. Educated at Eton College and King's College Cambridge, he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1969 and became a...
(1998–2003)
- Sir Ken Macdonald, QC (2003–2008)
- Keir Starmer, QC
Keir Starmer, QC, is a barrister in England and Wales. He became the fourteenth Director of Public Prosecutions and the sixth head of the Crown Prosecution Service on 1 November 2008...
(2008–)
External links