Annex D: Designated caseworkers General Instruction
Director of Public Prosecutions' General Instructions to Crown Prosecution Service designated caseworkers, pursuant to Section 7A(3) and (4) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 'the Act')
1. Preamble
1.1 These instructions will take effect on 2 January 2006, and will apply to all CPS employees designated by the Director in accordance with section 7A(1) of the Act. Any such employee will be referred to in these instructions as a Designated Caseworker ['DCW'].
1.2 These instructions apply whether the DCW has been so designated prior to the date specified in paragraph 1.1, upon that date, or subsequently.
1.3 Upon these instructions taking effect in accordance with paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2, all previous instructions issued to DCWs pursuant to section 7A(3) and (4) of the Act, and set out in the appropriate Annex of the Director's Annual Report to the Attorney General in accordance with section 7A(7)(c) of the Act, will cease to have effect.
1.4 The Director may from time to time issue guidance to CPS Areas as to how to approach implementation of these instructions, and dealing with related matters including procedures for supervision of DCWs and training requirements relevant to certain duties.
2. Powers and Rights of Audience
2.1 All DCWs will exercise the powers and rights of audience of a Crown Prosecutor in the conduct of criminal proceedings in magistrates' courts, including those concerning a defendant's application for bail, or application in relation to bail (including proceedings for breach of bail), whether or not the matter is contested and whether or not the defendant is an adult or youth, except to the extent that the proceedings are any of the excluded proceedings listed in paragraph 2.4 below.
2.2 All DCWs will exercise the powers of a Crown Prosecutor in the conduct of criminal proceedings in magistrates’ courts, including the power to review such proceedings in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and to determine such proceedings, except to the extent that the proceedings are any of the excluded proceedings listed in paragraph 2.4 below.
2.3 The powers of a DCW to review and determine proceedings are further subject to Section 3 below.
2.4 For the purpose of these instructions, excluded proceedings are proceedings:
- For an offence triable only at the Crown Court;
- For an either-way offence in relation to which the defendant has, at a previous hearing, elected to be tried at the Crown Court;
- For an either way offence in relation to which the magistrates have decided, at a previous hearing, that Crown Court trial would be more suitable;
- For an offence in relation to which a notice of transfer has been given under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 or section 53 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991;
- That take the form of a criminal trial, beginning with the opening of the prosecution case after the entry of a plea of not guilty by the defendant or the defendant's representative and ending with the conviction or acquittal of the defendant;
- That take the form of a Newton Hearing; or
- That take the form of a 'special reasons' hearing, namely where the offence carries obligatory disqualification and the defendant is calling evidence in support of 'special reasons' as to why he or she should not be disqualified from driving.
2.5 A DCW may exercise the powers and rights of audience of a Crown Prosecutor in order to prove a summary matter in the defendant's absence under section 12 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980, if and only if there has been no response to the summons and the court proceeds to hear the case in the absence of the accused.
3. Powers to Review and Determine Proceedings
3.1 The fundamental principle is that DCWs shall only review magistrates' courts cases which are straightforward and which involve no difficult technical issue, or other complication of fact or law.
3.2 Consistent with that basic principle, DCWs shall only review summary or either way offences where:
- The defendant is an adult; and
- The matter is summary-only or considered to be suitable for summary disposal; and
- A guilty plea is reasonably expected; or
- (if otherwise) The offence is a minor road traffic offence, provided that the defendant is not a youth.
3.3 A guilty plea may reasonably be expected where a defendant has admitted the offence to police, or the offence has been witnessed by a police officer or police officers and the defendant has given no indication that he or she will plead not guilty.
3.4 A DCW may not review a case in relation to which any of the following applies:
- The decision to charge was not made in compliance with the Director's Guidance on Charging under section 37A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, where it is in force in the Area;
- The offence is indictable only;
- Where a summary matter, the defendant has pleaded not guilty and the matter has already been set down for summary trial;
- Where an either way offence, the matter is awaiting committal or transfer;
- The offence requires the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or Attorney General;
- The case involves a defendant who is a youth;
- The matter may be considered sensitive, for example it involves a fatality, a child victim, the defendant is a serving police officer, it relates to a racial incident, or there is some other relevant factor likely to place the case within such a category of sensitivity;
- The charges allege the burglary of a dwelling, or the supply or possession with intent to supply of a controlled drug, irrespective of whether these offences are admitted. In relation to the former, a Crown Prosecutor will have to determine whether section 111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (the 2000 Act) applies. In relation to the latter, a Crown Prosecutor will similarly need to determine whether section 110 of the 2000 Act applies, where the drug is Class A, or committal to the Crown Court for a judge to consider confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act is otherwise appropriate;
- Any dispute as to the facts is such as to raise the possibility of an order under section 58(7) and 58(8) of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 relating to derogatory mitigation; or
- The matter involves obligatory disqualification and there is notification from the defendant or the defendant's representative prior to any review that evidence will be called in respect of 'special reasons' as to why the defendant should not be disqualified.
3.5 Where it becomes apparent during either the review of the file, or during a subsequent hearing, that a summons or charge requires a minor amendment, for example, to correct:
- An error as to the value of any property;
- The date or dates upon which an offence took place;
- The venue for the offence; or
- The description of any relevant object (including the registration details of a vehicle),
the DCW may amend it or apply to the court to amend it without reference to a Crown Prosecutor.
3.6 Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 3.5, where:
- The matter charged is a road traffic offence involving production of documents by the defendant (otherwise than in specified proceedings), and the defendant has produced documents to the court's Police Liaison Officer (PLO) or other police officer; and
- The DCW is satisfied, as a result of speaking to the PLO or other police officer (or upon seeing a suitable signed statement from either), that the substantive charge is no longer sustainable,
the DCW may withdraw the substantive charge or summons without reference to a Crown Prosecutor and proceed on any alternative charges that are also before the court.
3.7 Where in situations other than those described in paragraph 3.5 or 3.6, the DCW proposes a course of action involving the amendment/substitution/withdrawal or discontinuance or a charge or summons, a Crown Prosecutor must be consulted for a decision. The Crown Prosecutor will then endorse the file as to any decision taken. If the Crown Prosecutor is consulted on the telephone, the DCW should endorse the file with the decision.
December 2005
