CPS begins monthly publication of case outcomes

23/01/2006

From today, Derbyshire residents will have the opportunity to find out more information regarding the outcome of criminal cases prosecuted in the county.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has today begun publishing a monthly analysis of the outcomes of its prosecution cases on its national website www.cps.gov.uk  Outcomes in 12 categories of cases will be broken down into convictions and unsuccessful outcomes.  Alongside national outcomes, the figures for each county can also be viewed.

The first month's figures show that Derbyshire CPS had an overall conviction rate of 81.5 per cent for December 2005.

Brian Gunn, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Derbyshire CPS said: "Publishing details of our prosecution case outcomes reflects our determination to ensure that the CPS is open and accountable to the public we serve.  We're keen to give people as much information as we can about our role and performance within the local criminal justice system; and this is just one of several ways we can now do this."

Outcomes are shown for categories of principal offences including homicide, offences against the person, sexual offences and burglary.  A principal offence is the most serious offence with which a defendant is charged in a set of proceedings, regardless of how that offence is finalised. 

Convictions comprise guilty pleas, convictions after trial and cases proved in the absence of the defendant.  Unsuccessful outcomes represent all outcomes other than a conviction.  These are discontinuances and withdrawals, discharged committals, dismissals and acquittals and administrative finalisations.