Prosecutors in police stations produce results

20/07/2004

Today, Northamptonshire Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published its Annual Report for 2003-2004, a year during which the proportion of cases dropped by the county's prosecution service almost halved after just six months.

This scheme is in preparation for when CPS lawyers will take over responsibility from the police for deciding the charge a defendant is to face and it commenced in the South of the county in September 2003, expanding to cover the whole of the county in December 2003. Prosecutors who give advice are based in police stations - a radical change which has even resulted in a new character in ITV's 'The Bill'.

Chief Crown Prosecutor Colin Chapman said: "The substantial reduction in dropped cases is largely because we are building stronger cases through our lawyers working with police officers during the course of the investigation, giving advice on the evidence and the charge a defendant is to face.

"Over my five years as Northamptonshire's Chief Crown Prosecutor, this was one of the most significant and challenging because of the major changes which took place in the CPS and the Criminal Justice System."

The pre-charge advice scheme was one of three major changes in 2003-2004 that transformed the way in which CPS Northamptonshire operates. The other two were the:

1. Establishment of Northamptonshire Criminal Justice Board in April 2003, chaired by CPS Northamptonshire - the Board has joined-up justice in the county and ensured that all local criminal justice agencies' efforts are focussed on shared multi-agency targets and priorities, in order to reduce crime and improve the local Criminal Justice System.
2. Introduction of a new CPS electronic case management system in October 2003 - this has improved the management and monitoring of casework and reduced reliance on paper files.

2003-2004 was also a year in which the CPS Inspectorate praised the ‘sound decision making' of prosecutors in the Area and efforts to engage with the community, but recommended improvements on trial readiness. CPS Northamptonshire's Business Plan 2004-2005 incorporates such recommendations and sets out how the organisation intends to deliver on specific targets.

Mr Chapman continued: "Our current priorities into 2005 are to strengthen the prosecution process, drive change and delivery in the local criminal justice system and be champions for justice and for the rights of victims in order to inspire the confidence of the communities we serve."

In the same year (2003-2004), CPS Northamptonshire achieved a conviction rate of 98% in the magistrates' court and 91% in the Crown Court, dealing with 21,310 cases in the magistrates' court and 1,217 in the Crown Court. These figures represent an increase in the number of offences brought to justice compared to the previous year.

Notes

1. The exact proportion of cases dropped by CPS Northamptonshire in 2002-2003 was 11.6% and in 2003-2004 this reduced to 7.5%. There are a number of reasons why cases are dropped - this is usually due to lack of evidence or witnesses not turning up at court.
2. In 2003-2004 on average 1,464 cases a month in the magistrates' court and 56 cases a month in the Crown Court resulted in a conviction, whether due to a guilty plea or a guilty verdict following trial.
3. Statutory charging by the CPS is a major change to the Criminal Justice System. The first site in the country to migrate to statutory charging was Longsight in Greater Manchester on 8 March 2004.
4. At 5 July 2004, a total of eight of the 42 CPS Areas were operating the statutory scheme (West and South Yorkshire, Kent, Cleveland, Lancashire, Northumbria, Avon & Somerset and Nottinghamshire). By the end of October 2004, 60% of CPS business is expected to be covered by statutory charging.
5. CPS Northamptonshire is a non-priority area for the statutory scheme and it could be 2006 before legal responsibility for charging in this county is transferred from the police to the CPS.