New Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London North announced
Jaswant Kaur Narwal has been announced as the new CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) for London North.
As the former CCP for Thames and Chiltern since October 2018, Miss Narwal has 34 years’ service with the Crown Prosecution Service, joining the organisation in 1989. She qualified as a barrister in 1993 and spent much of her early career prosecuting in London. Miss Narwal as CCP has overseen some of the most high-profile homicide and rape cases, including the more recent successful prosecution led by her team of the David Carrick case - a Metropolitan police constable sentenced to life imprisonment for a relentless campaign of sexually and mentally abusing women.
Miss Narwal is also the CPS national lead for honour-based abuse, female genital mutilation and forced marriage, and is at the forefront working with partners to raise awareness about these crimes and to increase prosecutions. In January 2023, Miss Narwal gave evidence at the Parliamentary Women and Equalities Select Committee Inquiry into So-called honour-based abuse.
Upon her appointment, Jaswant Kaur Narwal who is the only current Asian Sikh female CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor in the England and Wales, said: “It is a huge privilege and honour to now serve as the Chief Crown Prosecutor for London North having spent so much of my early career prosecuting in London. I’ve lived in London for many years and appreciate the rich diversity the capital city brings but also understand e its unique but exciting challenges. I’m confident that together with the strong commitment and dedication of all my staff we will work with partners and communities to deliver the high-quality public prosecution service that Londoners deserve.”
Miss Narwal replaces Barry Hughes, CCP who will be partially retiring on 2 October 2023 where he will move to the Directorate of Legal Services team to work on the national case strategy programme.
Notes to editors
- In 2007, Jaswant Kaur Narwal is the former Chief Crown Prosecutor for Lincolnshire and subsequently Chief Crown Prosecutor for Sussex in 2010. She then became Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the South East Area, with responsibility for operational delivery and the digital working programme. Jaswant took up the national position of Deputy Head of the Central Fraud Division in 2013 and later Deputy Head of Welfare, Rural and Health Division. Prior to joining CPS Thames and Chiltern, she was the Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South East.
- The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the main prosecuting authority in England and Wales. In our daily operations we work in partnership with all agencies in the criminal justice system. We work especially closely with the police, although we are independent of them.
- The CPS has 14 Areas across England and Wales and CPS London North Area is one of two Areas in the Greater London Area (CPS London South being the other). It covers most of the London boroughs north of the river Thames (excluding Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster). We prosecute cases investigated by the Metropolitan Police in these boroughs.