Proposal between the Crown Prosecution Service, Ministry of Justice, Attorney General, Criminal Bar Association and the Bar Council

Rebecca Larence, next Chief Executive of the CPS

Rebecca Lawrence appointed next CPS chief executive

Rebecca Lawrence has been appointed as the next Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). She will join in September 2019, taking over from interim Chief Executive Paul Staff, who is retiring after 28 years at the CPS.

Sword bought by Renshaw and concealed at a relative's house

How the CPS made the case against a white supremacist who plotted murder

A far right extremist, who planned to murder his local MP with a sword, has been sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 20 years. Read about how the CPS made the case against him.

How cases are prosecuted in the CPS: From charge to conviction - a case study

The CPS prosecuted 533,161 cases last year. Here, see how we prosecuted a man for murder from the first phone call through to conviction

Your local CPS

The CPS operates across England and Wales, with 14 regional teams prosecuting cases locally.

Each of these 14 CPS Areas is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor, and works closely with local police forces and other criminal justice partners.

Find out who’s who in your area, and read more about local cases.

Find out about your area

Select your area

Yorkshire and Humberside

The Crown Prosecution Service

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales. The CPS is independent, and we make our decisions independently of the police and government.

Our duty is to make sure that the right person is prosecuted for the right offence, and to bring offenders to justice wherever possible.

The CPS:

decides which cases should be prosecuted;
determines the appropriate charges in more serious or complex cases, and advises the police during the early stages of investigations;
prepares cases and presents them at court; and
provides information, assistance and support to victims and prosecution witnesses.

Prosecutors must be fair, objective and independent. When deciding whether to prosecute a criminal case, our lawyers must follow the Code for Crown Prosecutors. This means that to charge someone with a criminal offence, prosecutors must be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, and that prosecuting is in the public interest.

Crime info

We prosecute people for hundreds of different types of crime every year. This section gives an introduction to some of the categories of offending that we are asked about most often.

Victims & witnesses

Being a victim or a witness to a crime is not easy, but with your help, we work hard to bring offenders to justice. Throughout the justice process we will support you and treat you with dignity.

From reporting the crime to passing sentence we explain what happens, the role of the CPS and what you can expect from us.

Support for victims & witnesses

Prosecution guidance

This guidance assists our prosecutors when they are making decisions about cases. It is regularly updated to reflect changes in law and practice.

View all prosecution guidance