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

PDF Information

In order to open PDF documents you need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. The majority of computers have this software but if not you can download Adobe Reader free of charge.

Get Adobe Reader

Home » News Centre » Press Releases » DPP reports on CPS transformation

DPP reports on CPS transformation

15/07/2004

The CPS is building on recent achievements to take its proper place as a world-class prosecution service Ken Macdonald QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, has said in his Annual Report to the Attorney General.

In the report published today the DPP highlights the new arrangements where prosecutors take responsibility for charging, the success of a victim and witness care pilot scheme and the successful roll out of the new case management IT system as examples of the transformation that is taking place within the CPS.

Mr Macdonald said:

"We have successfully piloted charging - the biggest transformation in our history. Without doubt prosecutors taking responsibility for charging will have the biggest impact of any reform in raising the performance of the Criminal Justice System. The work so far in introducing 'shadow' charging arrangements, the roll out of statutory schemes in priority Areas, the support of a CPS Direct service, offering police out-of-hours advice and charging, shows what we in the CPS can achieve by working with the police as a prosecution team.

"Almost 94% of our people work in or support our local frontline delivery of prosecution services, increasingly working alongside police colleagues whilst holding to our values of fairness, impartiality and integrity. So that in prosecuting criminal activity actively, robustly, promptly and fairly we aim for safe convictions in which the public can have confidence."

CPS achievements in 2003 - 2004 include:

  • Working with local police forces to introduce non-statutory 'shadow' charging arrangements in all areas in advance of statutory provision in the Criminal Justice Act. The arrangements are supported by CPS Direct, a telephone based service offering police an out-of-hours advice and charging service.
  • Successfully piloting 'No Witness No Justice' victim and witness care arrangements in partnership with police. The scheme has been awarded 27 million from the Government's Invest to Save initiative to support national implementation of the scheme.
  • Appointing 12 specialist prosecutors in 'hotspot' areas to concentrate on prosecuting anti-social behaviour and low-level disorder offences, and to support local authorities in the application and enforcement of any breaches of those orders.
  • The roll-out of the COMPASS Case Management System across all 42 Areas with over 7,000 staff trained to use the system and over one million cases registered on the system.

Figures from the Annual Report show that during the reporting year 2003 - 2004:

  • 98% of cases heard in magistrates' courts and 90% of cases heard at Crown Court resulted in a conviction.
  • the CPS dealt with 1.57 million cases, an increase of 9.9% compared with 2002-2003
  • prosecutors gave advice to police on prosecution and charge in 195,000 cases, a three-fold increase on 2002 - 2003
  • over one million defendants were convicted in magistrates' courts and almost 73,000 defendants were convicted in the Crown Court.
  • the percentage of discontinued cases fell to 13.8% compared to 16.2% in 2001-2002.

Commenting on the figures, Ken Macdonald said:

"These are good figures and very few organisations can match them. They show the substantial contribution the CPS is making to delivery of the Governments PSA targets to narrow the justice gap."

In responding to the CPS Annual Report, the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC said:

"Over the last year, I have been proud to launch two major CPS initiatives. All over England and Wales, we are building strong Prosecution Teams, with the CPS and police working together to get the case right from the start - the Charging Initiative. And under the No Witness No Justice initiative, CPS and police specialists in victim and witness care are staffing dedicated Witness Care Units across the country, ensuring that victims and witnesses get the support they need to give the best evidence they can.

"These initiatives are practical proof of the changing role of the CPS. They are the cornerstones of the reform package which the CPS is implementing, and, I believe, some of the most significant developments in the way we handle criminal cases since the CPS was established in 1986.

"The major reforms underway at the CPS will make our vision of modern, independent, world-class prosecutors at the heart of the criminal justice system, involved from the start to finish of a case, a reality. They will make the system more efficient. They will make the CPS a service the public can have confidence in, working for their benefit and with their interests at heart."

  1. The Annual Report covers the period April 2003 to March 2004.
  2. The Annual Report is available online from the Publications section of the CPS website or can be downloaded in PDF format.
  3. Contact the CPS Press Office on 020 7710 6091 for more details.