What are the Core Quality Standards?

We prosecute crime for the public.

Prosecuting crime is a public service. Because of this we must tell people what they can expect us to do.

The Core Quality Standards tell you what you can expect us to do when we prosecute crime.

We try to do all the things in the Core Quality Standards.

Many people depend on us doing a very good job.
People like victims, witnesses, people we think might have broken the law (suspects) and people we charge with a crime(defendants).

Other people also want to check that we are doing our job right. People like the police, courts and lawyers.

We also have to show that we are doing a good job to the public, our inspectors and Parliament. They want us to prove that we are making the right decisions and spending money wisely.

The Core Quality Standards are about the parts of our work that affect the public.

The Core Quality Standards do not cover everything we do.

The Core Quality Standards are about the jobs that Prosecutors do.

When we do our job we need to talk to people in a polite, respectful and fair way.

We want you to use the Core Quality Standards to check that we are doing our job properly.

The Core Quality Standards are supported by other policies we have written. You can read these policies on our website.

Sometimes we can't give you information about how we have made a decision (standard 2). This is because some information is secret.

We will use the Core Quality Standards to guide us in our work. They set the standard we want to achieve.

We want you to tell us if we don't meet the standard we have set ourselves.

We want to deliver a prosecution service that meets these standards.

We will regularly look at the Core Quality Standards to make sure they are right.

We will add more standards if we need to.

Each standard is about one area of our work.

The standards are listed below. Each standard links to a page that tells you more about them.

Summary of the Core Quality Standards

Standard 1. We will give the Police advice to help bring criminals to justice.

Standard 2. When someone is accused of a crime we decide whether there is enough evidence to charge them.
We will do our best to make the right decisions. We will follow The Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Standard 3. Sometimes people admit they are guilty of a crime. When it is right, we will avoid sending these people to court. We will use “Out of Court Disposal”. Out of Court Disposals punish criminals and help them understand that what they did was wrong.

Standard 4. When people are charged with a crime a court decides if they have to stay in prison before the trial.

Many people are let out of prison to wait for their trial.
This is called bail.

Standard 5. We will work as fast as we can to make sure that people get justice quickly.

Standard 6. We will be fair and firm in court.

Standard 7. We will find out if you need help to say what you saw in court (evidence). We will tell you what is happening. We will help you to give your best evidence.

Standard 8. We will tell victims if we stop a case or change the charge. We will explain why.

Standard 9. We will help the court decide what sentence to give someone found guilty of a crime. We will try to take away any money a criminal has made from their crime.

Standard 10. We will help the court decide what sentence to give someone found guilty of a crime. We will try to take away any money a criminal has made from their crime.

Standard 11. We will deal quickly and openly with complaints about our decisions and services.

If we think a court has made the wrong decision we will try to get the decision changed.

Standard 12. We will consult you about our decisions and listen to you.

We will deal quickly and openly with complaints about our decisions and services.