Standard 5

Work fast for justice

We will work as fast as we can to make sure that people get justice on time.

The first time a case is heard in court.

Prosecutors with lots of experience and the right exams are called Advocates.

Advocates usually speak in court.

5.1 Every person charged with a crime (defendant) goes to a magistrates' court first.

5.2.When Advocates get ready for this first hearing they do these things:

1. They think about the decision that was made when the defendant was charged with the crime.

   They think about why they were charged with the crime.

   They look at all the notes and evidence about the case.

2. Sometimes a person is charged with a crime by the police instead of us (the Crown Prosecution Service).

   Then the Advocate has to think if the police made the right decision.

   They ask:

   • Is there enough evidence?
   • Is it in the Public Interest to charge the person?

3. Sometimes the police keep the defendant in prison before the hearing.
   Then the Advocate has to decide if they should ask for them to stay in prison until the trial (oppose bail).

   The Advocate also thinks about if they should ask for rules to be set so that the defendant can be let out of prison before the trial (conditional bail).

4. If the Advocate is going to oppose bail or ask for conditional bail they have to get the evidence to support the request.
5. The Advocate plans and prepares, making sure that everyone has the information they need.
   
   This helps reduce delays.

5.3 Before the first court hearing Advocates meet other professionals involved in the case.

People like:

• The court's legal adviser
• Youth Offending Team
• Defence Lawyer
• Probation Service

They try to work out if the defendant will say they did the crime (plead guilty).

If the defendant says they did do the crime the case can go much faster.

The information the magistrates need (pre-sentence reports) can be got ready and the punishment (sentence) given at the first hearing.

5.4 When a defendant says they did the crime (pleads guilty) the Advocate:

1. Tells the magistrates about the evidence and reads the Victim Personal Statement to the court.
   
   This helps the magistrate set a punishment (sentence) that is right for the crime.
2. Tells the magistrates about any other crimes the defendant has done.
3. Makes sure the magistrates know what punishment (sentence) they can give.
4. Asks the magistrates to think about other things they can do like give anti-social behaviour orders or restraining orders.

5.5.The magistrates are only able to give some types of punishment (sentence).

If they think a defendant should have a harder sentence they have to send the case to the Crown Court.

We send copies of the evidence and a list of any other crimes the defendant has done to the Crown Court to help the Judge make the right decision about the sentence.

5.6. Sometimes the defendant says they didn't do the crime they are charged with (pleads not guilty).

Then the Advocate has to think about which court the trial should go to, magistrates' court or Crown Court.

If the crime is very bad the trial is held at the Crown Court.

5.7. If the trial is held at a magistrates' court the Advocate has to:

1. Talk to the defence lawyer about the evidence.

   When a witness talks to the police they write it down.
   This is called making a statement.
   
   If the defence lawyer agrees that the witness has told the truth in their statement the witness will not need to go to the court to say what happened to them.
   
   Their statement will be read to the court instead.

2. Help the court know about the important parts of the crime.
3. Make sure the court knows what dates the witnesses can get to court.

4. Asks the court what the timetable is for the trial.

   The timetable tells us:

   • When we have to give the court the reports it needs.
   • What date we have to ask for special help for witnesses.
   • What date we have to ask if we want to use some types of evidence.
5. Write down what we need to do to get ready for the trial.
   
   If the magistrates decide to send the case to the Crown Court for trial we help the magistrates by telling the court how long we need to get the case ready.

5.8. If the case has to go to the Crown Court we help the magistrates set a date for the trial.

How we get ready for trials and Committal Proceedings in the magistrates' court.

How we get ready for a first hearing in the Crown Court.

5.9. If a defendant says they didn't do the crime (pleads not guilty) at the magistrates' court these things can happen:

• The trial may take place at the magistrates' court.
• A committal hearing may take place. At a committal hearing the magistrates hear the evidence against the defendant to see if it is strong enough to go to the Crown Court.
• If the crime is very bad the case will be sent to the Crown Court without a committal hearing.
• We have to think about what we need to do for the next hearing.

5.10. We ask the police to:

1. Send us all the information about the case.
2. Send us any extra evidence we need for the next hearing. This can be things like photographs or plans that show what happened.
3. To do things the court has asked for.

4. Send us a list of evidence that we are not using in the trial.

   We have to show the defence lawyer all the evidence we have, even if it doesn't help us but does help the defence.

5.11. When the trial will be heard in a magistrates' court we ask the Witness Care Unit to tell the witnesses the date of the trial.

When the trial is held in the Crown Court we ask them to do this after the defendant has told the court they didn't do the crime.

The Witness Care Unit support witnesses and victims during the trial. They ask witnesses if they will need help in court or before the trial.

5.12. When the police send us new evidence we try to think about it in a strict time limit.

5.13. When we get ready for a trial at Crown Court we do these things:

1. Check that we still think we can show that the defendant did the crime.

   Check that it is still in the Public Interest to have a trial.

   Work out what has changed since the case started.

2. Decide if we need to get more evidence.
3. Sometimes we cannot continue to charge a person with a crime. Then we see if the evidence shows they have done other crimes.

4. We write notes for the Advocate who will be in court. We write down each part of the crime and say how we can show the court it really happened.

   We write down what we think the defence lawyer will say.

   We write down how to show that the defence lawyer is wrong.

   We write down why the trial is important for the Public Interest.

5. We write down what to do if the defendant wants us to change the charge against them.

   We make sure that the crime the defendant says they did do has a punishment (sentence) that is right for the crime.

6. We tell the defence lawyer about any new evidence we have.

7. We make sure that witnesses have the help they need to give their best evidence.

We have to ask the court if we can show some types of evidence.

8. We decide if we should show unused evidence to the defence lawyer.
9. We decide if any of the evidence is so sensitive we think it should be secret. We can ask the court to do this.
10. We send a list of all the evidence we haven't used to the defence lawyer.
    
    Some evidence might help the defendant or weaken the prosecution.
    We send copies of the evidence to the defence lawyer or tell them where they can look at it.

11. We check the victim has been asked if they want to make a Victim's Personal Statement.
    
    The Victim's Personal Statement is listened to by the court.

    This happens after the defendant has been found guilty and before the Judge decides what punishment (sentence) to give.

12. Some witness record their evidence on video.
    
    We try to make sure they see the video before the trial so that they can remember what they said.

13. We make sure that the witnesses are being looked after.

    We make sure witnesses can come to the court on the right day.

5.14. We ask the defence lawyer and the police to answer questions as early as possible before the trial.

5.15. If there is a problem with the case we ask the court to think about changing the date of the trial.

Extra work for Crown Court trials

5.16. We write an indictment. An indictment is a list of the crimes the defendant is charged with.

5.17. We write down instructions for the Advocate who will be at the trial.

Advocates at the Crown Court have to follow instructions called CPS Instructions for Prosecuting Advocates.

You can read the Instructions for Prosecuting Advocates on our website.

We also:

1. Give the Advocate:

   • A copy of all the evidence we have got.
   • The list of unused evidence given to the defence lawyer.
   • Copies of all the letters to the court and the defence lawyer.

   We make a list of all these things.

2. We get copies of anything we have asked the court for.
   Things like special help for witnesses or asking to use some types of evidence.

3. We tell the Advocate about the crime.

   We say:

   • How the case should be shown to the court.
   • Which bits of evidence should be used to show what happened.
   • What we think the defence lawyer will say.
   • How to deal with the defence lawyer.
4. We give the Advocate a paper that tells them why the person was charged with the crime.
5. We tell the Advocate about any unusual law that is important to the trial.
6. We tell the Advocate about any work we are waiting for.

7. We ask the Advocate to tell us if there is anything else we can do to make the evidence stronger.

   We ask them to do this quickly.

8. We say if we will allow the defendant to say they did a different crime to the one they are charged with.

   Any change in charge must not stop us taking away any money made from the crime.

9. We point out anything we think it is important for the Advocate to know before the trial.

   Things like needing private or secret information.

10. We tell the Advocate if the defendant has been in prison while waiting for the trial.
    
    If the defendant has been out of prison before the trial we say if there were any rules they had to keep to (conditional bail).

11. We tell the Advocate if any of the witnesses don't want to tell the court what they saw.

    Sometimes a witness summons or a witness warrant is needed to make a witness come to court.

12. Ask the Advocate to decide which order the witnesses should be in.
13. If we are waiting for evidence we say what date we expect to get it.
14. We give contact details for the people who have worked on the case.

5.18. We do any extra work the Advocate asks for.

Giving information to defendants to make the trial fair

5.19. The police must make a list of everything they collect when they investigate a crime.

They have to supply a list of the things we don't use in the trial.

5.20. We look at the list of information not used for the trial. We decide if anything on the list:

1. Should be used as evidence in the trial.
2. May make it harder for the court to say the defendant did the crime (find the defendant guilty).
3. May help the defence lawyer.
4. Is too sensitive to show to the defence lawyer. Things that are secret and would cause harm if other people knew about them.

5.21. We ask the police to show us copies of this information.

5.22. We write down our decision about each bit of information (evidence) on the list.

We write down why we made the decision.

We send the list to the defence lawyer.

If a piece of evidence is sensitive or secret it is not shown to the defence lawyer.

5.23. Some evidence on the list may make it harder for the court to say the defendant did the crime (find the defendant guilty).

We give copies of this evidence to the defence lawyers.

If we cannot copy the evidence we ask the defence lawyer to come and look at it.

5.24. Sometimes evidence is so sensitive or secret that we don't tell the defence lawyer about it.

If this evidence would help the defence lawyer we have to ask the court if we can keep it secret.

5.25. We keep checking that all the evidence is shown to the defence lawyer.

This carries on after the trial as new evidence may show that we are wrong about who did the crime.

We also think about what evidence we have shown to the defence lawyer when they tell us what they are going to say at the trial.

We ask the police to tell us what they think about the defence lawyer's ideas.

Time limits for being kept in prison before a trial

5.26. Defendants can be kept in prison before the court says there must be a trial.

They can only be kept in prison for a short time.

If we want them to stay in prison for longer we have to ask a court.

5.27.Sometimes a defendant has to stay in prison before their trial. The court will set a time limit for this.

Every time the case goes to court we have to tell the court about the time limit

5.28.We write this date in the case file.

We write this date in the Custody time limit diary.

5.29. We work hard to make sure that we are ready for trial by the date set by the court.

If we need more time we have to ask the court to change the date of the trial or the date the defendant must be let out of prison.

If we want more time we have to show the court that we have done our job well.

5.30. We look at the Custody time limit diary every week.

One of the people who work for us is given this job.

If we need more time we have to ask the court to change the date of the trial or the date the defendant must be let out of prison.

We have to do this in a strict time limit.

We have to list all the things we have done to get ready for the trial and say when we did them.

This is to show the court that we have done the right thing.

5.31 A manager at the CPS checks that the Custody time limit diary is right every week.