1. Introduction

What is the Crown Prosecution Service?

Crown Prosecution Service logo. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the government body that decides if a crime should go to a law court to be dealt with.

Policewoman writing in her notebook. The CPS deals with criminal cases after the police have got the evidence.

Man with glasses reading large book. The CPS follows government guidelines and its own guidelines to work out if a crime should go to court.

The CPS is now joined with the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office. The CPS works with similar organisations around the UK and in other countries.

Law court, showing scales of justice. The service is led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, who decides if some serious cases should go to court.

What is a 'prosecution'?

A policeman writing at a desk, talking to a man sitting opposite. Prosecuting a crime means someone being charged and their case going to court.

Friendly looking woman sitting behind a desk. The Prosecutor is the person who decides if a particular case will go to court or not and what a suspect should be charged with.

Hand giving the thumbs-up. Prosecutors are independent. This is very important.

Prosecutors from the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office also follow this Code.

What do the police do?

Policewoman writing in her notebook. The job of the police is to catch people who do crimes.

The police get all the facts to prove that this particular person has done a crime. This is called 'evidence'.

What do the words mean?

A pile of long hard words - like 'mendacious'. Some words are hard. Words that are underlined and blue are explained in the 'Difficult Words' section of each page.

These are some of the words you will see most often in this document:

Policeman's hands, handcuffing a man. A crime means doing something that is against the law. The police can arrest you for doing a crime.

A policeman talking to a man, sitting at a desk. The charge is the name of the crime that someone does and the law that makes it wrong. The prosecutor normally decides what to charge someone with after the police have arrested them.

Man in handcuffs, sitting in a car. A suspect is someone who the police think has done a crime but they haven't been charged yet.

A policeman writing at a desk, talking to a man sitting opposite. A defendant is someone who has been charged with a crime.

Law court, showing scales of justice. An offender is someone who has been found guilty in court or someone who admits they did it.

More about this Code

The Houses of Parliament. The information in this Code is covered by law.

Man with glasses reading large book. There is also a booklet called the Core Quality Standards.

The Code and the Core Quality Standards booklet tell people what prosecutors do.

Man dialing a phone number. You can get the Code and the Core Quality Standards booklet from the address at the end of this booklet.

Next page: General Principles

Contents page

Difficult words

Charge/ Charging: The charge is the name of the crime that someone does and the law that makes it wrong. The prosecutor normally decides what to charge someone with after the police have arrested them.
Crime: A crime means doing something that is against the law. The police can arrest you for doing a crime.
Criminal Cases: This is when someone has been charged with doing a crime and the criminal justice system deals with them.
Crown Prosecution Service: The Crown Prosecution Service is the organisation that deals with criminal cases after the police have arrested someone.
Defendant: A defendant is someone who has been charged with a crime.
Director of Public Prosecutions: The Director of Public Prosecutions is the head of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Evidence: The evidence is the information that proves someone did a crime.
Offender: An offender is someone who has been found guilty in court or someone who admits they did it.
Police: The police are the people who stop crimes from happening, investigate crimes and arrest people for doing crimes. The police can give out cautions for crimes that are not serious.
Prosecutor: The prosecutor is a professional person with legal training. Their job is to charge people suspected of doing crimes and make sure the criminal justice system deals with them in the right way. Some prosecutors work for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Prosecuting a crime/Taking a case to court: This means charging someone who has committed a crime and taking him or her to court.
Suspect: A suspect is someone who the police think may have done a crime but they haven't been charged yet.