Our commitment to inclusion, diversity and equality is at the heart of how we work.

When prosecuting youths who have committed sexual offences prosecutors must have regard to the to the principal aim of the youth justice system which is to prevent offending by children and young persons but also to the welfare of the offender. The overriding purpose of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 is to protect children. It was not Parliament’s intention to punish children unnecessarily or for the criminal law to intervene where it was wholly inappropriate.

This protocol is an agreement between HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Its purpose is to set a framework for co-operation, exchange of information, advance notification and joint working with respect to custody time limits (CTLs). It does not create legal obligations or restrictions on either party. It replaces the protocol dated 1 December 2014.

A man who made arrangements to travel abroad and pay to rape children as young as six, and helped others to do the same, has been convicted.

You can find all coronavirus-related updates on the CPS website here.

Six members of a Russian spy ring who carried out espionage activity on British and European soil over three years have been jailed.

We made 32 commitments in the JNAP. We have completed 24 and eight are in progress. As we have developed this refreshed Joint National Action Plan, we have held sessions using the theory of change model to consider where we can go further, building on what we’ve delivered to date. We will be taking forward the JNAP through 20 actions (including the in-progress actions) outlined in the main strategy document.