Decision to Charge

In January 2006, sole responsibility for charging criminal suspects transferred from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), in all but the most minor and straightforward cases.

CPS prosecutors work closely with police officers; reviewing the evidence gathered throughout the investigation and advising on the case.  It is the responsibility of the prosecutor to decide whether a person should be charged with a criminal offence and, if so, determining what that charge should be.

Prosecutors work from a number of police stations across the East of England region to advise police officers on the appropriate charges to bring against a defendant.  They also advise the police on what further lines of enquiry they should pursue and the evidence they should obtain to ensure that the most robust cases are built from the outset. 

Involving the CPS in criminal investigations at the earliest opportunity helps to ensure that all the necessary evidence is obtained before a defendant is charged and also that the correct offence is determined. 

The prosecutor is also in a position to identify weak cases without a realistic prospect of conviction and make sure they are not pursued, only to be discontinued once at court due to lack of sufficient evidence.  Weeding out these cases as soon as possible avoids unnecessary waste of police, CPS and court time.

Outside normal office hours, the CPS provides the police with a 24 hour 7 day a week telephone service, known as CPS Direct, to make charging advice available to police officers at all times.