Updated 30/09/2019

Revised 15 June 2018; 23 October 2024

Updated: 17 August 2023; 27 November 2023; minor revision 19 January 2024, 7 February 2025

Updated: 20 Nov 2023, 1 Nov 2024; 10 Nov 2025

Experts can be of great assistance to magistrates and juries in helping them to determine the issues in a case, including the guilt or innocence of an accused. Prosecutors will require the appropriate knowledge and understanding of the evidence in question to present and challenge expert evidence. The purpose of this Guidance is to assist prosecutors in identifying, understanding and challenging, where appropriate, this type of evidence.

Updated: 10 Dec 2025

Rewritten: 15 March 2023

The basic principle is that it is for the prosecution, not the court, to decide whether a prosecution should be commenced and, if commenced, whether it should continue.

Updated: Oct 2019; 1 Nov 2024; 31 Jul 2026

Updated: 13 Sep 2021; 7 Feb 2025; 27 Feb 2026

Investigation costs include obtaining sufficient evidence either at the initial stage or later at CPS request; re-interviewing witnesses; seeking medical or expert evidence as part of the investigation, (where a witness is required to attend Court, the cost of the attendance falls on the CPS).

This simple template is designed to produce a quality Custody Time Limit application Word Document which can be saved and sent electronically or printed  for faxing etc. Download the template here.