The people who help us protect communities

Hate crimes are offences motivated by race or religious bigotry, or hatred of lesbians, gays and transgender people and those with disabilities.

For the victims, these crimes are particularly harmful - they are abused because of their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability.

In short, they are victimised because of their personal identity.

And this not only robs them of their fundamental right to equal treatment but invariably undermines their community's feeling of safety. This is why we treat hate crimes so seriously.

Like other CPS Areas we have set up a Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel, formed from members of the communities, to examine how we prosecute such offences.

As newly-appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for London I recently attended a panel meeting to watch how it worked. And I have to say I was very impressed.

Make no mistake, the panel members are no poodles - they may have been recruited by CPS London but their job is to tell us whether we have been dealing with hate crimes effectively, and to make suggestions for improvements.

At these meetings, held three or four times a year, members look at randomly-selected files relating to finalised hate crime cases.

The cases include those that went to a full trial at court and those that were discontinued.

The prosecutor who dealt with the case under scrutiny is encouraged to attend - not to answer any criticism that may be voiced at the meeting but to contribute to and benefit from the feedback process.

Usually, members look at unsuccessful cases - those that failed to result in a conviction - in order to learn lessons for the future.

At the end of their scrutiny they go through a checklist governing key issues such as, "Was it justified to accept pleas to lesser offences?"

At the end, the panel will make a series of recommendations relating to the way the cases were handled.

We will then either act on the recommendations, or if they relate to partner agencies - say, the police - pass the comments on to them.

Not all the cases examined by the panel are unsuccessful nor are all unsuccessful cases ones where there could have been any other outcome.

At one meeting members discussed the way we dealt with a drunken commuter, arrested at Kings Cross station for shouting, "Kill all Muslims".

Charged with causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, the defendant - a chartered accountant - admitted the offence. He believed he would get off with a caution.

In applying the public interest test, the prosecutor decided a caution was not suitable - it would defeat the purpose when the defendant only accepted guilt after he had been charged and faced the prospect of conviction.

Instead, the CPS lawyer prosecuted the man at Highbury Magistrates' Court where he received a year's conditional discharge. Panel members commended the prosecutor for his action.

I believe that by inviting the people we serve to examine the way we make decisions can only raise our standards and boost our relationship with the public.

The panel has helped us to improve the way we prosecute hate crimes as well as reassure our communities that we will bring the perpetrators to justice.

The members do important work and give up their time to assist the Service. We need to demonstrate that we value their work and are learning lessons and acting on the feedback they provide.

Similarly, the CPS London Community Involvement Panel whose members play an important role in shaping our business planning and policies.

Drawn from across the community, they discuss local issues with the heads of our borough prosecution teams and assist them in strengthening community engagement.

Further information about the CPS London Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel and the Community Involvement Panel