What is the Role of the CPS and How Does it Work?

In this blog post, we will be focusing on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – what it is and how it operates. We will then look at the code that the CPS uses to make decisions and the stages it follows in choosing whether to prosecute. We will then continue to look at the CPS in a later blog post, considering the structure of its board and committees. However, we will start by looking at the role of CPS and its primary functions.

What is the CPS?

The CPS is responsible for deciding whether to prosecute criminal cases in England and Wales. Most of these will be brought to its attention by the police, but it may also consider cases submitted by other investigative bodies. The CPS is an independent body that operates without influence from the government or the police. This should mean that it is free from any political influence or pressure to try to prosecute or to drop a particular case.

While the main role of the CPS is to decide whether to prosecute, it also has other functions and duties. For example, once it has decided that it will prosecute a certain case, the CPS will start preparing the details of this case ready to present at court. They should take note of any evidence and knowledge they have and how this affects their finished case, including it as part of their argument in court.

The CPS also decides on what charge is most relevant in more serious or complex cases. There may be several ways that a particular case could be charged, so it is the job of the CPS to decide which charges are most relevant. This can sometimes mean choosing or adding a lower charge that is more certain to succeed, rather than just having a higher one where a successful prosecution is less likely.

The CPS sometimes also acts as an advisor to the police early on in an investigation, explaining what charges could be brought and what would be needed for the case to succeed. In addition, it helps victims and prosecution witnesses by offering support, information and assistance where necessary.

Code for Crown Prosecutors

The Code for Crown Prosecutors is the document that the CPS must follow when deciding whether to prosecute a particular case or not. It contains guidance on what will justify prosecution and how prosecutors can ensure that they are treating each case fairly and without bias. The Code is created by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

The advantage of having a Code for Crown Prosecutors is twofold. Firstly, having set procedures helps to enforce consistency, regardless of which Crown Prosecutor is looking at it. This means that all cases should go through the same process and be treated equally, which is vital to make the CPS is fair in deciding which cases to prosecute. It shouldn’t matter which prosecutor reviews the case, the decision will stay the same, as objective rules from the Code are used to decide, rather than subjective opinions.

Secondly, the Code aims to ensure that each case is considered on its own merits. Having established rules means that every case should be treated as a separate one, rather than being grouped with similar ones. It is easy to look at a case and decide it is very similar to another one you have just seen, but it might not actually be the same. Having set questions to think about can help to distinguish each one as unique and avoid cases being prosecuted when it is not suitable or missed when they should be prosecuted.

Stages of the Full Code Test

To determine whether or not to prosecute a case, Crown Prosecutors will use the Full Code Test, which has two stages. The first stage is the evidential stage, which requires looking at the evidence available and calculating whether there is enough to give a “realistic prospect of conviction”. This is an objective test that looks at whether a jury or magistrates will be more likely than not to convict. In deciding this, Crown Prosecutors will look at how reliable the evidence is, as well as what arguments the defence is likely to raise.

The second stage is the public interest stage, which asks whether it is in the public interest to prosecute. Crown Prosecutors will weigh up the arguments for and against prosecution, as it is possible that a different course of action would better suit the details of the case. In most situations, they will continue with prosecution unless there are very good reasons, in the public interest, to not.

Wrapping Up

I hope that this helps you to understand what the CPS is and how it works. In my next blog post, we will be looking at the structure of the CPS, including the board and committees, so come back in two weeks for that!

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