3. Should someone be prosecuted?

Who decides to prosecute someone?

In serious or complicated cases, prosecutors decide if someone should be charged with a crime.

The police make this decision for less serious or less complicated cases.

Parliament has decided that the Director of Public Prosecutions has to agree to charge someone for some very serious cases. These are called 'consent' cases.

How does the prosecutor decide to prosecute?

First, the police find out everything about the crime and the person who might have done it.

Prosecutors might give advice to the police about what evidence to gather and how to do it. But they cannot tell the police what to do.

When the police have got the evidence they give it to the prosecutor.

Prosecutors must have all the information they need to make the right decision about a case.

Prosecutors should work out if more evidence is needed.

But they should also stop a case if there will never be enough evidence or it is not in the public interest to continue.

Prosecutors get most of their information from the police but they might get some from the suspect.

Prosecutors must make sure that they do not allow a case to start or continue if a judge would think the case is not right or fair.

Sometimes the charge can change or the case be stopped if new evidence comes along. Prosecutors will talk to the police about this.

What happens next?

A case can only go forward if the Full Code Test is passed. (The Full Code Test is explained in the next section.)

Prosecutors must review the case as they go along.

Sometimes, a suspect is kept locked up while information is gathered.