Decision to Prosecute

After the police have investigated a crime and passed the papers to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the lawyers carefully review the evidence to decide whether or not to proceed with the case.

Crown prosecutors are responsible for deciding whether a person should be charged with a criminal offence and, if so, what that offence should be.

This decision is made in accordance with the Full Code Test, which is laid out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The Full Code Test has two stages:

The Evidential Stage: Prosecutors must be satisifed that there is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each defendant on each charge.  If a case does not pass the evidential stage it will not go ahead, no matter how important or serious it may be.

The Public Interest Stage: If the case passes the evidential stage prosectors then decide whether a prosecution is needed in the public interest.  A case has to pass both stages before the CPS can start or continue a prosecution.

A new Code was published in February 2010, after a period of public consultation.