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Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advice to the police and other investigative agencies during the course of criminal investigations, to decide whether a suspect should face criminal charges following an investigation, and to conduct prosecutions both in the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court.
The Attorney General for England and Wales superintends the CPS's work and answers for it in Parliament, although the Attorney General has no influence over the conduct of prosecutions, except when national security is an issue or for a small number of offences that require the Attorney General's permission to prosecute.
Historically prosecutions were conducted through a patchwork of different systems. For serious crimes tried at the county level, justices of the peace or the sheriff would issue a presentment to a grand jury, who would either return a "true bill" resulting in an indictment, or not. If a true bill followed presentment, the individual would be tried by a petit jury by justices of the King's Bench, Common Pleas or Exchequer as they toured the circuits conducting the assizes. Individuals could be prosecuted upon indictment by prosecutors ranging from the Attorney-general or Solicitor-general, king's serjeants or attorneys, prosecutors instructed by the sheriff or justice of the peace. It was more likely that the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General would be involved in prosecutions of serious crimes such as high treason at the Court of King's Bench at Westminster Hall.
The second means of prosecution was by "appeal", which was when the prosecution was initiated not by presentment to a grand jury but by direct private prosecution of an interested party. An "appeal of murder" prosecuted by the widow of a murdered man was typical of this form of prosecution.
Sir John Maule was appointed to be the first Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales in 1880, operating under the Home Office; his jurisdiction was only for decisions as to whether to prosecute in 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 1962 a Royal commission recommended that police forces set up independent prosecution teams so as to avoid having the same officers investigate and prosecute a case. Technical barriers were already in place that those prosecuting did so as private citizens, rendering them open to the range of evidential offences imposable by the court. This Royal Commission's recommendation was not implemented by all police forces, however, and so in 1977, another was set up, this time headed by Sir Cyril Philips. It reported in 1981, recommending that a single unified team, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), be made responsible for all public prosecutions in England and Wales. The example of the Procurator Fiscal system in Scotland was influential in encouraging this recommendation. A White paper 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 police prosecution departments. It became operational on 1 October 1986.
In 1997, the Home Office tasked Sir Iain Glidewell to inquire into performance of and make recommendations for the CPS. The Glidewell Report of June 1998 found that 12% of charges by police were discontinued by the CPS and that there were failures to communicate between the two. It recommended the CPS:
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Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advice to the police and other investigative agencies during the course of criminal investigations, to decide whether a suspect should face criminal charges following an investigation, and to conduct prosecutions both in the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court.
The Attorney General for England and Wales superintends the CPS's work and answers for it in Parliament, although the Attorney General has no influence over the conduct of prosecutions, except when national security is an issue or for a small number of offences that require the Attorney General's permission to prosecute.
Historically prosecutions were conducted through a patchwork of different systems. For serious crimes tried at the county level, justices of the peace or the sheriff would issue a presentment to a grand jury, who would either return a "true bill" resulting in an indictment, or not. If a true bill followed presentment, the individual would be tried by a petit jury by justices of the King's Bench, Common Pleas or Exchequer as they toured the circuits conducting the assizes. Individuals could be prosecuted upon indictment by prosecutors ranging from the Attorney-general or Solicitor-general, king's serjeants or attorneys, prosecutors instructed by the sheriff or justice of the peace. It was more likely that the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General would be involved in prosecutions of serious crimes such as high treason at the Court of King's Bench at Westminster Hall.
The second means of prosecution was by "appeal", which was when the prosecution was initiated not by presentment to a grand jury but by direct private prosecution of an interested party. An "appeal of murder" prosecuted by the widow of a murdered man was typical of this form of prosecution.
Sir John Maule was appointed to be the first Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales in 1880, operating under the Home Office; his jurisdiction was only for decisions as to whether to prosecute in 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 1962 a Royal commission recommended that police forces set up independent prosecution teams so as to avoid having the same officers investigate and prosecute a case. Technical barriers were already in place that those prosecuting did so as private citizens, rendering them open to the range of evidential offences imposable by the court. This Royal Commission's recommendation was not implemented by all police forces, however, and so in 1977, another was set up, this time headed by Sir Cyril Philips. It reported in 1981, recommending that a single unified team, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), be made responsible for all public prosecutions in England and Wales. The example of the Procurator Fiscal system in Scotland was influential in encouraging this recommendation. A White paper 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 police prosecution departments. It became operational on 1 October 1986.
In 1997, the Home Office tasked Sir Iain Glidewell to inquire into performance of and make recommendations for the CPS. The Glidewell Report of June 1998 found that 12% of charges by police were discontinued by the CPS and that there were failures to communicate between the two. It recommended the CPS: