Introduction
Role
The CPS was set up in 1986 as an independent authority to prosecute criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales. In undertaking this role, the CPS:
- Advises the police during the early stages of investigations;
- Determines the appropriate charges in all but minor cases;
- Keeps all cases under continuous review and decides which cases should be prosecuted;
- Prepares cases for prosecution in court and prosecutes the cases with in-house advocates or instructs agents and counsel to present cases; and
- Provides information and assistance to victims and prosecution witnesses.
Code for Crown Prosecutors
Before charging a defendant and proceeding with a prosecution, Crown Prosecutors must first review each case against the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The Code sets out the principles the CPS applies when carrying out its work. Those principles are whether:
- There is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each defendant on each charge; and, if so,
- A prosecution is needed under the public interest.
The Director is under a statutory duty to publish the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The fifth edition of the Code was published on 16 November 2004 and reflects the current responsibilities for Crown Prosecutors to determine charges.
Human Rights Act
The CPS is a public authority for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998. In carrying out their role, Crown Prosecutors must apply the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights in accordance with the Act.
Organisation
Peter Lewis, CPS Chief Executive
The CPS is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ken Macdonald QC. The Director is superintended by the Attorney General who is accountable to Parliament for the Service. The Chief Executive is Peter Lewis, who took up this role in January 2007 and is responsible for running the business on a day-to-day basis, Human Resources (HR), finance, business information systems, and business development, allowing the Director to concentrate on prosecution, legal issues and criminal justice policy.
CPS Areas
The CPS has 42 Areas across England and Wales. Each Area is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) who is responsible for the delivery of a high quality prosecution service to his or her local community. A 'virtual' 43rd Area, CPS Direct, is also headed by a CCP and provides out-of-hours charging advice to the police. Three casework divisions, based in Headquarters, deal with the prosecution of serious organised crime, terrorism and other specialised prosecution cases.
Each CCP is supported by an Area Business Manager (ABM), and their respective roles mirror, at a local level, the responsibilities of the DPP and the Chief Executive. Administrative support to Areas is provided through a network of business centres.
The CPS works closely with the Home Office, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) [Note: from 9 May 2007, the Ministry of Justice] and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR), which is the trilateral team drawn from the Home Office, DCA and CPS to support criminal justice departments, agencies, and Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) in working together to deliver Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets and to improve the service provided to the public.
Links with Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs)
LCJBs bring together the Chief Officers of local criminal justice agencies to deliver the PSA targets in their Area and to drive through criminal justice reforms. Each LCJB has produced delivery plans to bring more offenders to justice, reduce ineffective trials and increase public confidence. Progress on the plans is reported to the National Criminal Justice Board (NCJB). The Attorney General, Solicitor General, DPP and CPS Chief Executive, along with the Home Secretary, Lord Chancellor and others, are members of the NCJB.
CPS Management Structure
The following divisions report to CPS Headquarters:
- Policy: Roger Daw
- Finance: John Graham
- Business Development: Steve Przybylski
- Business Information Systems: Claire Hamon
- Equality and Diversity: Séamus Taylor
- Human Resources: Ros McCool
- Business Centres
- Organised Crime Division: Alison Saunders
- Special Crime Division: Carmen Dowd
- Counter Terrorism Division: Sue Hemming
CPS Headquarters, the 42 Area and CPS Direct Business Managers and 42 Area and CPS Direct Chief Crown Prosecutors report to Chief Executive Peter Lewis and ultimately to the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC.
