Advanced Search

The Role of The Crown Prosecution Service

The Crown Prosecution Service is the government department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales.

As the principal prosecuting authority in England and Wales, we are responsible for:

  • advising the police on cases for possible prosecution
  • reviewing cases submitted by the police
  • determining any charges in more serious or complex cases
  • preparing cases for court
  • presenting cases at court

Find out more about the role of the Crown Prosecution Service

Home » News Centre » Press Releases » CPS begins monthly publication of case outcomes

CPS begins monthly publication of case outcomes

23/01/2006

From today the Crown Prosecution Service will publish a monthly analysis of the outcomes of its prosecution cases on its website.

Outcomes in 12 categories of cases will be broken down into convictions and unsuccessful outcomes.

Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC said: "The decision to publish these figures on a monthly basis reflects my determination that the CPS should be open and accountable to the public we serve. I believe that, consistent with fair trials and victims' rights, the more information the public has about the performance of criminal justice, the better.

"In the past we have published overall outcomes in our Annual Reports but until recently we did not have the technology to break this down into categories of offence. Now I am pleased to say we are able to do this and will be publishing this information every month on our website."

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.

The first month's figures show the CPS had an overall conviction rate of 81.8 per cent for December 2005.

  1. The figures can be found on this website in Case Outcomes in the Publications section.
  2. CPS outcomes are recorded on a defendant basis. In some cases, a number of defendants may be prosecuted together. All defendants may be convicted; all may be acquitted; or, in some cases, some defendants may be convicted and others acquitted. Because cases often involve a number of defendants being tried together, defendant based data can appear distorted as a result. Over time this effect will be evened out, but it should be borne in mind that figures for a single month may represent the outcome of only a small number of separate cases.
  3. Media enquiries to CPS Press Office on 020 7796 8106.