About Us

The main role of CPS London is to prosecute people charged with a criminal offence. Our lawyers determine the charge in all but minor cases. They review the evidence gathered by police and decide whether the case should go to court.

Their work involves:

• deciding charges on cases for prosecution
• reviewing prosecutions to ensure the right defendants are prosecuted on the right charges before the right court
• preparing cases for court, presenting cases in magistrates' courts, the Crown Court and higher courts.

In London we have prosecutors in each London borough, many based alongside police within the local police station. We have teams dedicated to Traffic and British Transport Police work and offences which come from Heathrow Airport. We also have a Complex Casework Centre which houses the Homicide and Special Casework teams.

As the largest of the 42 Crown Prosecution Service Areas, CPS London prosecuted nearly 150,000 defendants in magistrates' courts and nearly 25,000 defendants in the Crown Court during 2010-11.

Our aims

Our business is to help make Londoners safer by bringing offenders to justice.

This year our focus will be on the following five key areas:

Casework quality

We will improve the standard of casework preparation and progression across the Area, resulting in the building of robust and well constructed cases, and in turn more successful prosecutions.

Advocacy

We will maximise the quality and value for money provided by CPS advocates by further developing their skills and ensuring that resources are deployed efficiently across the Area.

Victims and witnesses improving the quality of our service to Londoners

Our aim is to reach our 90% witness attendance target by improving communication with and services to victims and witnesses and to raise the level of witness satisfaction.

People

We will ensure the correct management and allocation of people resources across the Area and empower managers to lead and manage their teams.

London Reform Programme including embedding virtual courts and integrated prosecution teams

These priorities will address areas on which CPS London must concentrate in order to improve our service to London.