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CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICEANNUAL REPORT 2004 - 2005

Annual Report

for the period April 2004 - March 2005

From the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Attorney General

Presented to Parliament in pursuance of section 9 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, Chapter 23

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 12 July 2005

Contents

Letter From the Director of Public Prosecutions

to the Attorney General 2

The Crown Prosecution Service 4

Summary of CPS Performance and Achievements 5

Criminal Justice System Performance 7

CPS Performance

Strengthening the Prosecution Process 14

Being Champions for Justice and the Rights of Victims 18

Inspiring the Confidence of the Communities We Serve 20

Driving Change and Delivery in the CJS 26

Being Renowned for Fairness Excellent Career Opportunities

and the Commitment and Skill of All Our People 28

Building Capacity to Deliver 36

Annex A - Casework Statistics 32

Annex B - Guidance Issued by the Director 41

Annex C - Code for Crown Prosecutors 42

Annex D - Designated Caseworkers 51

Annex E - CPS Headquarters 54

Annex F - CPS Area/Police Force Boundary Map 56

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D I R E C TO R ’ S L E T T E R TO T H E AT TO R N E Y G E N E R A L

I am pleased to report to you on theperformance and reform of the CrownProsecution Service during 2004-05.

This has been a year where the CPS hascontinued to make progress towards our sharedvision of becoming a world class prosecutingauthority and valued public service.

During the year the CPS prosecuted over 1.25million cases, with over 943,000 defendantsconvicted in the magistrates' court and almost72,000 convicted in the Crown Court.

In bringing these cases to court, the CPS hascontinued to work closely with police colleagues,operating as a prosecution team to improve theinvestigation and prosecution of offenders athome and abroad; to improve joint casemanagement in bringing the strongest possiblecase before the courts; to improve the servicesprovided to victims and witnesses of crime; andto recover the proceeds of crime.

These and other partner relationships with thecourts and the voluntary sector are entirelyproper and are an appropriate development forthe Service.They can create challenges inmaintaining CPS independence in charging adviceand decision-making.

But these are challenges of practice not principle.Engaging with criminal justice partners is fundamentalto the CPS contributing more effectively to the CJS.

As part of this prosecution team working, wehave continued the implementation of thecharging programme, where CPS prosecutorsselect the charge in all but the most minor cases.These statutory charging arrangements are nowoperating in 15 of the 42 CPS Areas andaccount for some 60% of all CPS prosecutions.The remaining Areas are already operating'shadow' charging arrangements with policecolleagues. They will all have moved to thestatutory scheme on schedule, by March 2007.

These new charging arrangements have beenwell supported by CPS Direct, an out-of-hourstelephone service that allows prosecutors toprovide the police, in those Areas operatingunder the statutory arrangements, with anycharging advice required through the night andat weekends. This enables the CPS to provide a24/7 prosecution service.

The CPS is also working with the police andWitness Support to deliver the No Witness, NoJustice initiative which is improving the services,information and support provided to victims andwitnesses of crime. Over 80 witness care centresare now open across England and Wales, with atleast one in each Area. This initiative is helpingto put victims at the centre of the CJS.

A major development for the CPS this year hasbeen to introduce an advocacy strategy so thatwe may routinely conduct our own, high-qualityadvocacy in all Courts.Two Higher CourtAdvocacy pilots, in Hertfordshire and Hampshireand the Isle of Wight, where CPS prosecutorsregularly prosecute cases in the Crown Court,are showing what a move to more CrownCourt advocacy will mean for the CPS. All Areasare now looking at ways of increasing the use ofHigher Court Advocates. We are continuing todraw on the skills and experience of designatedcaseworkers to prosecute guilty plea cases inmagistrates' courts.

T H E C R O W N P R O S E C U T I O N S E R V I C E

In-house advocacy is a proper role for the CPS asa public prosecuting authority.This initiative willmake available an untapped reservoir of talentand experience in the Service, offer wideropportunities for staff who wish to develop theircareers as designated caseworkers andprosecutors, help increase the Service'sattractiveness as the major legal employer andhelp to attract ambitious graduates andexperienced prosecutors from outside theService to join us.

During the year, the Service has completed afundamental review of how it conducts serious,sensitive and complex cases. I have decided tocreate three new central casework divisions tobe known as Organised Crime Division,Counter-Terrorism Division and Special CrimeDivision. My aim is to have the new structuresand operating arrangements in place by October2005. We shall be ready to provide the bestpossible prosecution services to the new Seriousand Organised Crime Agency and across the fullrange of our serious casework.

The CPS is leading the way in electronic casemanagement in the CJS. More and morecasework is managed through the COMPASSCase Management System. CPS staff are able tosecurely email CJS colleagues including the Barand defence solicitors. And the Service is startingto explore the potential to link up with other CJSsystems, particularly through a pilot in Humbersidewhich is looking at the scope for police and theCPS to communicate and exchange casemanagement information electronically.

We are proud to say we have a diverseworkforce that not only represents ourcommunity but actively works for it. Ourequality and diversity programme has gone fromstrength to strength. This year we produced anEquality and Diversity Policy statement andStrategy, in consultation with the widercommunity, which will contribute towards ourgoal of becoming an employer of choice for allcommunities.

The Service continues to develop leadershiptraining and development for its current andaspiring leaders through our 'Transform'programme. We are starting to develop thepotential of e-learning across the organisation.We continue to develop our approach toprogramme and project and risk management toensure we are able to bring about the sought forbenefits from our reform programme, securevalue for money and deliver the efficiency savingssought by HM Treasury in the 2004 SpendingReview.

I am proud of our achievements during 2004-05and thank all of my staff for their hard work,commitment and professionalism. We haveearned the respect and confidence of ourpartners within the CJS and beyond.

I am sure we will build on this success over thecoming year and continue to work to become aworld class prosecuting service. Above all, thiswill be a prosecution service that earns anddeserves the confidence, respect and trust of thecommunities it serves. I want communitieseverywhere and members of thosecommunities, to see us as their prosecutionservice acting on their behalf with independence,integrity, firmness, clarity and vigour.

KEN MACDONALD QCDirector of Public Prosecutions

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I N T R O D U C T I O N


Role

The Crown Prosecution Service was set up in1986 to prosecute criminal cases investigated bythe police in England and Wales. In undertakingthis role, the CPS:

• advises the police on cases for possibleprosecution;

• reviews cases submitted by the police forprosecution;

• where the decision is to prosecute, determinesthe charge in all but minor cases;

• prepares cases for court; and • presents those cases at court.

Code for Crown Prosecutors

Before proceeding with a prosecution andcharging a defendant, Crown Prosecutors revieweach case against the Code for CrownProsecutors.The Code sets out the principlesthe CPS applies when carrying out its work.Those principles are:

• whether there is enough evidence to provide arealistic prospect of conviction against eachdefendant on each charge; and, if so,

• whether a prosecution is needed under thepublic interest.

The Director is under a statutory duty to publishthe Code for Crown Prosecutors.The fifthedition of the Code was published on 16thNovember 2004 and reflects the newresponsibilities for Crown Prosecutors todetermine charges.

Human Rights Act

The CPS is a public authority for the purposes ofthe Human Rights Act 1998. In carrying out theirrole, Crown Prosecutors must apply theprinciples of the European Convention onHuman Rights in accordance with the Act.

Organisation

The CPS is headed by the Director of PublicProsecutions (DPP), Ken Macdonald QC.TheDirector is superintended by the AttorneyGeneral who is accountable to Parliament for theService.The Chief Executive is Richard Foster,who is responsible for running the business on aday-to-day basis, and for human resources,finance, business information systems, andbusiness development, allowing the Director toconcentrate on prosecution, legal issues andcriminal justice policy. Casework Directorate,based in Headquarters, deals with theprosecution of serious and organised crime,terrorism and other specialised prosecution cases.

CPS Areas

The CPS has 42 Areas across England andWales. Each Area is headed by a Chief CrownProsecutor who is responsible for the delivery ofa high quality prosecution service to his or herlocal community. A new 43rd Area, CPS Direct, isalso headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutorproviding out-of-hours charging advice to thepolice.

Each Chief Crown Prosecutor is supported byan Area Business Manager, and their respectiveroles mirror, at a local level, the division ofresponsibilities between the DPP and the ChiefExecutive. Administrative support to the Areas isprovided through a network of business centres.Ri

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S U M M A R Y O F P E R F O R M A N C E & A C H I E V E M E N T S

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Aim

The CPS works in partnership with the police,courts, the Home Office, Department forConstitutional Affairs (DCA) and other agenciesthroughout the Criminal Justice System toreduce crime, the fear of crime, and their socialand economic costs; to dispense justice fairly andefficiently and to promote confidence in the ruleof law.

The CPS's overall aim, which reflects theGovernment's priorities for the Criminal JusticeSystem, is to:

Deliver a high qualityprosecution service that bringsoffenders to justice, helpsreduce both crime and thefear of crime and therebypromote public confidence inthe rule of law through theconsistent fair andindependent review of casesand through their fair, thoroughand firm presentation at court.

CPS Vision

The CPS is working to become a world-class,independent prosecuting authority that delivers avalued public service by:

• Strengthening the prosecution processto bring offenders to justice: providing anindependent prosecution service, working withthe police from the outset of a case to itsdisposal; advising the police before charge;building and testing the strongest possibleprosecution case and presenting that case fairlyin the courts on behalf of the public.

• Championing justice and the rights ofvictims: assessing the needs of victims andwitnesses and their likely evidence from theoutset and throughout the life of the case;making sure their experience of the CPS andthe CJS encourages them and others to comeforward in future to play their part in bringingoffenders to justice.

• Inspiring the confidence of thecommunities we serve: being visible, openand accountable for our decisions; beingresponsive to the needs of the community andproviding a valuable public service; being seenas the decision-makers who decide whichcases should be brought to court and bringingthem to justice.

• Driving change and delivery in theCriminal Justice System: as a self-confident leader, influential in delivering localcriminal justice and in shaping the CJS of the future.

• Being renowned for fairness, excellentcareer opportunities and thecommitment and skills of all ourpeople: where everyone is treated on merit;where people of ability can rise to the top andwhere all our people are renowned for theircommitment, skills and dedication to justice.

• Having a strong capability to deliver: bytransforming HQ support to frontline delivery,securing value for money and efficiencies toreinvest in frontline prosecution services;improving the management of prosecutioncosts; harnessing IT to support CPS business;and delivering through effective programmeand project management.

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S U M M A R Y O F P E R F O R M A N C E & A C H I E V E M E N T S


Cases for advice and prosecution

• In 2004-05 the CPS advised the police, or tooka pre-charge decision, in 441,194 cases, anincrease of 126.3% from 2003-04.The CPSprosecuted a total of 1,262,815 defendantcases in magistrates' courts and in the CrownCourt, compared to 1,371,990 in the previous year.

Case results

• During 2004-05, 943,000 defendants wereconvicted in magistrates' courts and almost72,000 defendants were convicted in theCrown Court.The CPS made a substantialcontribution to the CJS's target to narrow thejustice gap, although only the more seriousoffences fall within the scope of this measure.

• The percentage of cases discontinued inmagistrates' courts continued to fall, from15.5% in 2002-03, to 13.8% in 2003-04 and to12.5% in 2004-05.

• Unsuccessful outcomes in magistrates' courtsfell from 21.1% of all outcomes in 2003-04 to19.2 % in 2004-05.

• In the Crown Court, unsuccessful outcomesfell from 25.4% of all Crown Court outcomesin 2003-04 to 24.2% in 2004-05.

• Overall unsuccessful outcomes fell from 21.4%of all outcomes in 2003-04 to 19.6% in 2004-05, while convictions rose from 78.6% during2003-04 to 80.4% in 2004-05.

People

• At the end of March 2005, the CPS employeda total of 7,808 people, 142 more than at thesame time the previous year. This includes2,723 prosecutors and 4,427 caseworkers andadministrators. Over 91% of all staff areengaged in, or support, frontline prosecutions.

• The CPS has 544 prosecutors able toadvocate in the Crown Court and on cases inthe Higher Courts and 233 DesignatedCaseworkers (DCWs) able to present cases inmagistrates' courts.

Delivery of Public Service Agreementtargets

• Latest available figures show 1.131 millionoffences were brought to justice for yearending December 2004.

• The proportion of ineffective trials in theCrown Court has reduced from 17.8% quarterending April 2004 to 14.4% for the quarterending March 2005, an improvement of 3.4percentage points.

• For the magistrates' courts, the proportion ofineffective trials has reduced from 27.1% forthe quarter ending April 2004 to 22.7% for thequarter ending March 2005, an improvementof 4.4 percentage points.

• The British Crime Survey for the year toDecember 2004 shows 43% of the publicbelieve the CJS is effective in bringing peopleto justice, an improvement of 3 percentagepoints in the year to December 2003.

• The CPS is taking a leading and influential rolein Local Criminal Justice Boards with eleven ofthe 42 Local Criminal Justice Boards beingchaired by Chief Crown Prosecutors in 2004-05

CPS Reform

• Statutory charging has been introduced in 15CPS Areas throughout 2004-05, with theremaining 27 Areas currently operating under'shadow' charging arrangements. Thesearrangements are supported by CPS Directwhich provides an out-of-hours telephoneservice that allows prosecutors to work fromtheir own home to provide the police withcharging advice through the night and atweekends.

• The CPS is introducing an Advocacy Strategywhich aims to make the Service one thatroutinely conducts its own high-qualityadvocacy in all courts. The Strategy will buildon the success of the Hertfordshire andHampshire and Isle of Wight Higher CourtAdvocate (HCA) Pathfinder Pilots, which wereestablished in June 2004. In March 2005, theCPS recorded its highest level of HCA activity,conducting 830 Crown Court sessions andadvocating on 2,330 cases.

C R I M I N A L J U S T I C E S Y S T E M P E R F O R M A N C E

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• Following the successful evaluation of theNWNJ pilot sites the CPS, in partnership withthe police, is now commencing national rollout.There are currently 81 Witness Care Unitsopen to the public with at least one unit ineach of the 42 areas.

• The COMPASS Case Management System(CMS) has continued to be a successthroughout 2004-05. As of March 2005 thesystem had 7,598 users across the CPS, and atotal of nearly 3 million cases have beenregistered since the system went livecompared to one million at the beginning ofApril 2004.

• The CPS has developed its leadership anddevelopment programme,Transform, into acomprehensive programme of developmentfor existing, new and aspiring managers.Training has been provided to all Area andSector Business Managers, new Chief CrownProsecutors and seventy-eight Unit Heads.

Public Service Agreement (PSA) Targets

The PSA targets for the CPS and CJS from theSpending Review (SR) 2002 for 2003-2005 are:

I To improve the delivery of justice by increasingthe number of crimes for which an offender isbrought to justice, to 1.15 million by 2005-06,with an improvement in all CJS areas, a greaterincrease in the worst performing areas and areduction in the proportion of ineffective trials.

II To improve the level of public confidence inthe CJS, including increasing that of ethnicminority communities, and increasing year onyear the satisfaction of victims and witnesses,whilst respecting the rights of defendants.

III To increase value for money from the CJS by 3per cent a year.

Delivering these targets is the joint responsibilityof the CPS, Home Office and DCA. SR2000included PSA targets to improve the delivery ofjustice and public confidence. Some of thesetargets have been carried forward into SR2002.

Targets not carried forward into PSA for SR2002(to reduce the time from arrest to sentence orother disposal for all defendants; for youth courtcases; and for cases involving persistent youngoffenders) are continually monitored to ensureperformance is maintained.

New PSA Targets

The PSA targets for the CJS from SR 2004 for2005-2008 are to:

I Improve the delivery of justice by increasingthe number of crimes for which an offender isbrought to justice to 1.25 million for 2007-08;and

II Reassure the public, reducing the fear of crimeand anti-social behaviour, and buildingconfidence in the CJS without compromisingfairness.

Under the SR2004 settlement, the first target for2005-06 was reset from 1.2 million to 1.15million offences brought to justice. Theadjustment removed a number of minormotoring offences (known as 825/90 offences),which had previously been counted.

Efficiency Plan

The review also contained an efficiency plan todeliver £34 million savings by March 2008. Theplan includes savings from the implementation ofthe charging programme; improvements inproductive time through the use of the CMS;increased use of HCAs and DCWs; rationalisingadministrative support functions providedthrough Service Centres; reducing sicknessabsence; improving procurement practicesthrough e-commerce; and by exploiting theadvantages of new technology in administrationand front-line operations.

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Performance Measures Latest Outturn

Increasing the number of offences for which anoffender is brought to justice.The target will be met if there are 1.15m crimes forwhich an offender is brought to justice in the yearending March 2006, compared with the baselineyear ending March 2002.

(Offences brought to justice are those that resultin conviction, caution, fixed penalty notices,formal warnings for possession of cannabis or inwhich the offence is taken into consideration inrelation to recorded offences only.The gapbetween offences brought to justice and theoverall level of recorded crime is sometimesreferred to as “attrition”).

An improvement in all CJS Areas The target will be met if each of the 42 CriminalJustice Areas bring more offences to justice thanthey did in the baseline year ending March 2002.

A greater increase in worse performing Areas.The target will be met if the average performanceimprovement achieved by the worse performingareas is greater than the national averageperformance improvement in the year endingMarch 2006 as compared to the baseline yearending March 2003.

On Course

Current performance (provisional figures forDecember 2004) shows 1.131 million offendershave been brought to justice. This is an increaseof 12.9% on the baseline of 1,002,000.

Slippage

Of the 42 CJS Areas six are currently performingbelow the baseline, which is in line withexpectations given the impact of crime reductionin those Areas.

On Course

A greater increase in worse performing Areaswill be met if the current rate of improvement ismaintained at its current level.

• CLICKTABLE TOENLARGE

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A reduction in the proportion of ineffective trials.The target will be met if the national level ofimprovement for the Crown Court and magistrates’courts is 27% or less by the year ending of March 2006.

This equates to a reduction of ineffective trials inthe Crown Court from 24% to 17% and from 31%to 23% in magistrates' courts.

Crown Court - On Course

Latest performance is an ineffective trial rate of14.4% for the rolling quarter ending March 2005, a9.6 percentage point reduction on the baseline.

Magistrates Courts - On Course

Latest performance is an ineffective trial rate of22.7% for quarter ending March 2005 areduction of 8.3 percentage points.

N A R R O W I N G T H E J U S T I C E G A P



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I M P R O V I N G P U B L I C C O N F I D E N C E



Improve the level of public confidence in theCriminal Justice System.This will be met if, by the year ending March 2006,the level of public confidence has increased,compared to the baseline year ending March 2003.

- including increasing that of ethnic minoritycommunities.This will be met if, by 2005-06, the level ofconfidence amongst black and minority ethnicpeople is statistically higher than that during thebaseline year ending March 2003.

- increasing year on year the satisfaction of victims.This will be met if the level of satisfaction of victimsincreases year on year during April 2003 to March2006, with the final year showing a statisticallysignificant increase over the first year.

- increasing year on year the satisfaction of witnesses.This will be met if the level of satisfaction ofwitnesses increases year on year during the targetperiod from April 2003 to March 2006, with thefinal year showing a statistically significant increaseover the first year.

- respecting the rights of defendants.

Ahead of trajectory

Baseline: (British Crime Survey (BCS)2002-03) 39%

Annual outturn: (BCS 2003-04) 41%

Latest outturn: (year to December 2004) 43%

Ahead of trajectory

Baseline: (BCS 2002-03) 49%

Outturn: (BCS March 2004) 56%

Not Yet Assessed.

Baseline (BCS 2003-04): 59%

First outturn (BCS 2004-05): due July 2005

This is measured using new BCS questions on victimsatisfaction with the CJS, which were introduced inOctober 2003, together with questions on victimsatisfaction with the police.

Not Yet Assessed.

Baseline (BCS 2003-04): 59%

First outturn (BCS 2004-05): due July 2005

This is measured using new BCS questions on victimsatisfaction with the CJS, which were introduced inOctober 2003, together with questions on victimsatisfaction with the police.

The rights of defendants are protected by law.Any evidence that a defendants rights have beeninfringed would be thoroughly investigated.

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To increase value for money from the CriminalJustice System by 3% per annum.

The CPS contribution to the target will be met if byyear ending March 2006, there is an improvementin efficiency or value for money of at least 3%compared with the year ending March 2003.

Some CPS-led initiatives have efficiency and valuefor money benefits for the police and the courtsas well as the CPS.

There is no overarching CJS plan for this target,however the CPS has undertaken a number ofinitiatives to increase value for money andefficiency savings through:

- the introduction of charging arrangements- use of the COMPASS CMS- increased use of HCAs and DCWs- improvements to the management of leases on

the estate- improved terms from suppliers as a result of

introducing on-line ordering and procurement.

I N C R E A S I N G V A L U E F O R M O N E Y

Performance Latest Outturn

Criminal Justice Boards

Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) bring together Chief Officers of local criminal justice agencies todeliver the Public Service Agreement targets in their Area and drive through criminal justice reforms.Each local Board has produced delivery plans for narrowing the justice gap, ineffective trials and publicconfidence and report on progress to the National Criminal Justice Board.The Director of PublicProsecutions and the Chief Executive, along with the Home Secretary, Lord Chancellor and AttorneyGeneral and other criminal justice ministers are members of the National Board.

OCJR

The CPS also works closely with colleagues in the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR). TheOCJR is a trilateral team that supports all criminal justice agencies and LCJBs in working together toprovide an improved service to the public.

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C P S P E R F O R M A N C E


Reduction in Unsuccessful Outcomes inmagistrates' courts & Crown Courts.

Charging

A reduction in the discontinuance rate formagistrates' court and Crown Court activity.

Charging

An increase in the guilty plea rate formagistrates' court and Crown Court activity.

Charging

A reduction in the attrition rate for magistrates'court and Crown Court activity.

Assets Recovered under POCA.

MET.The number of unsuccessful outcomes fellfrom 21.4% in 2003-04 to 19.6% in 2004-05 wellwithin the annual target of 21%.

Crown CourtMET. The discontinuance rate has fallen from18.8% in July 2004 to 12.7% in April 2005.

Magistrates CourtNOT MET. The rate has risen from 15.1% inJuly 2004 to 15.3% in April 2005 compared toan 11% target.

Crown CourtMET. Figures for this target became available inthe final quarter of 2003-04 (Jan-Mar 2004). Thisshowed a guilty plea rate of 61.2%. The currentguilty plea rate is currently 68% and has met the68% target.

Magistrates CourtMET. Figures for this target became available inthe final quarter of 2003-04 (Jan-Mar 2004). Thisshowed a guilty plea rate of 62%. The current guiltyplea rate is 68.6%, well above the target of 52%.

Crown CourtMET. The attrition rate has dropped from31.5% in July 2004 to 21.7% in April 2005 and isbelow the 23% target.

Magistrates CourtMET. There is no comparable data for July 2004.The attrition rate is currently 22.6%, well withinthe 31% target.

MET. The CPS obtained 1,402 POCA and 666pre-POCA confiscation orders to a total value of£61.2 million against a combined POCA andpre-POCA target of 1,540 confiscation orders.£20.8 million was collected in respect of CPSconfiscation orders of which £4.1 million was inrespect of POCA confiscation orders.


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NWNJ

Increase in the Rates of Witness Attendance inthe magistrates' court and Crown Court.

NWNJ

Reduction in the number of ineffective trials dueto witness issues.

COMPASS

Increase in % of cases with a magistrates’ courtor Crown Court trial having completed a full filereview.

COMPASS

Increase in % of cases with a Crown Court trialhaving an indictment completed.

Prosecution costs/Admin costs.

Reduce sickness Absence Rate.

MET. The final independent evaluation of thePilot Areas showed an increase in WitnessAttendance from 68.9% in the period January-June 2003 to 82.2% in the period January-June2004, an increase of 19%.The evaluation reportstates that this rate of improvement can beachieved nationally.

MET. Pilot Areas showed a reduction inineffective trials due to witness issues from 4.5%in the period January-June 2003 to 3.3% in theperiod January-June 2004, an overall reduction of26.8%.

MET. The national average completion of full filereviews has increased from a baseline of 30% inDecember 2004 to 36.3% in April 2005. Thetarget is 60% by March 2006.

MET. The national average for completion of anindictment has increased from a baseline of 85%to 90.3% in April 2005, achieving the 90% target.

MET. The CPS managed within budget for2004-05.

MET. The rate has fallen from an average of 9.2to 8.7 days per year, a 5.4% reduction for theyear ending December 2004. The 2005 targethas been revised to an average of 8.0 days byDecember 2005.

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S T R E N G T H E N I N G T H EP R O S E C U T I O N P R O C E S S

Charging

Following Lord Justice Auld's Review of theCriminal Courts in October 2001 the CPS hastaken over responsibility for the decision tocharge in all but minor cases.

Building on successful pilots and working inpartnership with the Association of Chief PoliceOfficers (ACPO) and local police forces,‘shadow’ and Statutory Charging arrangementsare currently in place at 369 of the 380 policecustody units across England and Wales with268 providing some form of face-to-face advice.

The Office of Government Commerce Gatewayreview of the Charging Programme in June 2004led to the programme receiving funding for fullimplementation in SR2004 and by May 2005, theCPS had successfully implemented StatutoryCharging Scheme arrangements in 15 Areas.The remaining 27 Areas, currently operatingunder 'shadow' charging arrangements, willmove to the Statutory Charging Scheme byMarch 2007.

Over the year the Charging Programme teamconducted a series of Post ImplementationReviews (PIRs) to provide assurance on thelong-term sustainability of the StatutoryCharging arrangements. All 14 Priority Areasthat moved to Statutory Charging between Mayand November 2004 have received PIRs andwere found to have satisfactory arrangements inplace. These reviews have provided bestpractice guidance and informed planning forAreas to follow on the Statutory scheme. TheCharging Programme team also issued theProsecution Team Manual of Guidance,incorporating the Joint Performance Instructions(JOPI) in September 2004 which was circulatedto Areas.

University student Sara Cameron, 23, was foundmurdered with signs of sexual assault on 20thApril 2000. A murder enquiry began which ledto over 5,000 local men being DNA tested,4,000 witness statements being taken, 8,000house-to-house enquiries, and hundreds ofhours of CCTV footage being studied. CPSNorthumbria advised the police from the starton a range of issues including how to conductinvestigations abroad, including accessing DNAdatabases in countries such as Holland; and howto store and organise 5,000 exhibits. MichaelRobinson had a routine DNA test following hisarrest for a dispute with a neighbour. His testmatched DNA taken from the original sceneand he was arrested on 13th February 2004.Senior Crown Prosecutor Colin Darrochadvised the police to charge Robinson withmurder and attempted rape. Robinson pleadedguilty at Newcastle Crown Court and on 21stOctober 2004 was sentenced to serve aminimum of 18 years imprisonment and wasplaced on the sex offenders register for life.

Following the death of a young man who diedover 15 months after an attack, the law waschanged to allow an attacker to be prosecutedfor a homicide offence if their victim lived longerthan 366 days after the original offence. KeithStephenson pleaded guilty to grievous bodilyharm in October 2002 after hitting CharlesRatcliffe on the head with a piece of wood. MrRatcliffe, who sustained a fractured skull and ablood clot, developed epilepsy as a result of theattack and died from a fit in February 2004.CPS Northumbria investigated whether it waspossible to prove that Mr Ratcliffe's death was adirect result of the assault. After examining thefacts, Kingsley Hyland advised police thatStephenson should be charged withmanslaughter, a decision backed by the AttorneyGeneral. On 26th April 2005, at NewcastleCrown Court, Stephenson pleaded guilty andwas sentenced to 3 years in a young offendersinstitution.


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CCP Nicola Reasbeck stated “The year-and-a-day rule was a small but significant change in thelaw. While such cases do not happen very often,and it's very sad when they do, the legislationnow enables a bereaved family to feel thatjustice has been done.”

Operation Market was a joint Police and CPSresponse to football related violent disorderbefore and after the Portsmouth vs.Southampton game on Sunday 21st March 2004.Following the game CCP Nick Hawkins providedpre-charge advice on every case and CPS staffconducted all the hearings in the magistrates,Youth and Crown Courts. This resulted in 99prosecutions, with 98 convictions, 98 banningorders and 88 custodial sentences.

At Portsmouth Crown Court after the lastsentencing hearing in April 2004, His HonourJudge Cowling praised the police and the CPSand stated “I would also like, if I may, MrHawkins, to pay tribute to the CrownProsecution Service, who prepared and managedthe prosecutions with, in my judgement, greatskill and efficiency and I would like to thank youand your colleagues who have been involved inthat. Thank you.”

Following this work, on 13th April 2005 Nickattended the game between the same two sidesand provided on call legal advice to the police.This year there were only 5 arrests, all for onlyminor offences.

CPS Direct

The CPS introduced CPS Direct to provide anout-of-hours telephone service that allowsprosecutors to work from their own home toprovide the police with charging advice throughthe night and at weekends. By May 2005,prosecutors working for CPS Direct had dealtwith 132,656 out-of-hours calls from policeforces and provided 71,644 formal advices onthe charges to be applied.The service providedby CPS Direct will be extended to further CJSAreas as they move to the Statutory Schemethroughout 2005-06.

John Storey joined CPS Direct at its launch inSeptember 2003 after being involved withsetting up the ‘shadow’ charging scheme inHuddersfield Criminal Justice Unit. CPS Directhas provided a new challenge for John, he is nowproviding on the spot charging advice on a widevariety of offences ranging from theft to murder.The flexible working hours within CPS Directhave also benefited John by allowing him tospend more time with his family.

Recovering Proceeds of Crime

The CPS continues to develop its approach to theconfiscation of assets following the introduction ofthe Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), whichincreased the powers of the police andprosecutors to recover assets from criminals.

John

Sto

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CPS

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In February 2004 the CPS provided a CPSlawyer for each of the five multi-agency RegionalAsset Recovery Teams (RARTs) which werelaunched using funds from the Recovered AssetsIncentivisation Fund. The RARTs includeinvestigators from the police, HM Revenue &Customs (HMRC), and the Asset RecoveryAgency. The CPS lawyer provides legal advice tothe police on asset recovery issues and assistswith Area training. To help manage assetrecovery more effectively the CPS hascontributed to the development of a multi-agency Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD).This system will provide accurate and up-to-dateinformation with comprehensive reportsdetailing orders raised and assets recovered.

In the 12 months to April 2005, the number ofPOCA confiscation orders increased five-fold.The combined volume and value of POCA andpre-POCA confiscation orders obtainedincreased by 50% to 2,068 orders with a totalvalue of £61.2 million. In the same period, thenumber of POCA and pre-POCA restraintorders obtained by CPS increased by 80% to345 restraint orders; 211 were POCA ordersobtained by CPS Areas, the remaining 134 pre-POCA orders were obtained by the CentralConfiscation Branch (CCB). A total of £20.8million was collected in respect of CPSconfiscation orders of which £16.9 million wascollected by CCB.

Over a 12-month period Stephen Inghamobtained 3 vehicles, including a Jaguar, numerousbank accounts and credit facilities using a falseidentity. Ingham was convicted at LiverpoolCrown Court of 3 counts of obtaining propertyby deception and 10 counts of obtainingservices by deception. He was sentenced to21/2 years imprisonment and confiscationproceedings began based on Inghams criminalbenefit of £115,000. At the confiscation hearingIngham was criticised for failing to disclose assetsand bank accounts. The Judge agreed with theprosecution that 'discretionary assumptions'should apply, which led to evidence of additionalpayments into his bank accounts being taken

into consideration. In April 2005 the Courtissued a confiscation order for £724,122.07.Ingham was given 5 months to pay or face afurther 5 years imprisonment.

Serious Organised Crime Agency(SOCA)

The CPS will play a crucial role in providinghigh quality independent prosecution servicesto the Serious Organised Crime Agency(SOCA).The CPS is working with Revenue &Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO), theHome Office and other law enforcement andintelligence agencies to develop theprosecution arrangements for this new service.Over the year the CPS has conducted a reviewof its arrangements for prosecuting serious andorganised crime. As a result its CaseworkDirectorate has become three new divisionsdealing with organised crime, counter-terrorismand specialised crime. From October 2005 acadre of expert prosecutors will be establishedto provide a dedicated prosecution service to SOCA ready for it becoming fullyoperational in April 2006.

“We will provide an independent, world-classprosecuting service to SOCA through the provisionof specialist prosecutors dedicated to SOCA cases.They will work shoulder to shoulder with SOCA,providing high quality legal advice from the earlieststages of investigations to build stronger cases.”Ken Macdonald QC, Director of Public Prosecutions.

In November 2004 the CPS became a part ofthe first agreement to initiate a JointInvestigation Team (JIT), the Council of Europe'snew flagship vehicle for investigating crossborder crime. The agreement, which is betweenthe CPS, the National Crime Squad and theircounterparts in the Netherlands, was formallysigned in January 2005. The aim of JIT is toinvestigate and prosecute drug traffickingbetween the Netherlands and England andWales. By working in close co-operationinformation can be shared and acted upon


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 17

immediately, with suspects identified quickly andstrong cases built.

In December 2004 Alan Clair was sentenced toeight years imprisonment for possessing articlesin circumstances that gave reasonable suspicionthat they were to be used for a purposeconnected to terrorism. A search of his homerevealed a number of firearms, including a submachine gun, pistols and sawn off shotguns andother material indicating he was connected withthe Ulster Volunteer Force.

International Co-operation

The CPS has four liaison magistrates in France,Spain, Italy and the United States who act asinternational representatives for the UK criminaljustice agencies. They help to improve co-operation in legal matters such as making theprocess of obtaining evidence and extraditionorders much easier. Claire Brown, liaisonmagistrate for France stated “working as a liaisonmagistrate is an important job because of thegrowth of trans-national crime and newmeasures are being put in place such as jointinvestigation teams and the new EuropeanArrest Warrant to make co-operation easier.”

Operation Alburnham involved National CrimeSquad (NCS) Rugby, HM Revenue & Customs atDover and the regional Crime Unit at Solihull.Four defendants were charged with conspiracyto supply controlled class B drugs betweenAugust 1998 and November 2003. A Letter ofRequest was sent to the Spanish authorities asSpanish evidence was potentially crucial to thecase. There was constant liaison between AledWiIlliams, the Liaison Magistrate in Spain, theSpanish authorities and NCIS in London toobtain relevant information within very tighttimescales. At Coventry Crown Court theevidence was successfully used to convict thetwo principal defendants, Suckling and Wilkes,who were jailed for 10 and 8 years respectively.Confiscation proceedings have resulted withSuckling deemed to have benefited from thecrime to a value of £7 million, and Wilkes to avalue of £545,000.

In May 2005, Roger Coe-Salazar, CCPGloucestershire attended a UN developmentproject conference in Egypt for modernisingArab states prosecution services.The conference was attended by prosecutorsfrom Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan andYemen, international organisations andrepresentatives from United Nations Agencies.The conference concentrated on issues such asmodernising the concept of public prosecutorsand the reform of criminal justice in the Arabregion; the need for training; and co-operationbetween the Arab region and the internationalcommunity to fight trans-national crime.Following this conference Roger has now beenasked to sit on the International Advisory Group.This high profile role provides the CPS with agreat opportunity to influence work in this area and also develop our reputation as a world-class prosecuting agency.

Conditional Cautioning

Conditional cautions enable the prosecutor,where it is in the public interest, to makeoffenders carry out specified conditions ratherthan being prosecuted. If the conditions are notfollowed offenders will be charged for theoffence and put before a court.

So far, Conditional Cautions have been used incases of criminal damage, theft, and commonassault. The types of conditions imposed havemainly required the offender to pay compensationof an amount of money over a specified period oftime. Other conditions have involved writing aletter of apology to the victim and taking part in aDrug Intervention Programme set up specificallyfor Conditional Cautions.

Roger Coe-Salazar

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Early implementation of the initiative began inDecember 2004 in Lancashire and the schemehas now been extended to parts of WestMercia, South Yorkshire, Northumbria,ThamesValley and West Midlands. The disposal is alsoavailable to prosecutors at the Liverpool NorthCommunity Justice Centre.

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is a process that bringsvictims and their offenders into contact, eitherdirectly or indirectly, to decide how to deal withthe aftermath of the offence and to agree onhow the offender can make amends.Involvement in a restorative justice process caneither be made a condition of the caution,where both victim and offender agree to takepart; or the restorative justice process can itselfbe the way in which the conditions of thecaution are decided. An example might bewhere the offender had damaged the victim'sproperty and was willing to pay compensationor repair the damage; either payment or repairwould be the condition of the caution.The victimmay wish to meet the offender to explain theeffects the offence had on them and the family andfor the offender to apologise.

COMPASS

The COMPASS CMS has continued to be a successthroughout 2004-05. As of March 2005 the systemhad 7,598 users across the CPS and nearly 3 millioncases have been registered since the system wentlive. There have been a number of updates this yearincluding the introduction of markers for differenthate crime categories so that these can beeffectively monitored; and the introduction ofscreens to support statutory charging.

Joined up IT

The CPS is working closely with the Police ITOrganisation (PITO) and Criminal Justice IT(CJIT) and is testing an electronic interfacebetween the police National Strategy for PoliceInformation Systems (NSPIS), Case Preparationand COMPASS CMS in Humberside.This

interface will play a key role in maximising theuse of electronic case files throughout the CJSand is a significant move towards achieving amodernised, joined-up criminal justice IT system.

Secure email

The use of secure email has also been increasedacross the CJS throughout the year, allowingcriminal justice practitioners to communicateand exchange case information more securely.The CJS has extended this facility to barristersand solicitors in private practice in order tospeed up overall case management andpreparation for court.

Electronic Information at Court

The CPS is working with the Crown Court toroll-out the Exchange of Hearing Information ByInternet Technology (Xhibit). This system providesup-to-date trial listings and case resultsinformation for the CPS and for victims andwitnesses at court. The Service is also workingwith other prosecuting authorities and withcolleagues in the DCA to explore the wider useof IT for the electronic presentation of evidence.

B E I N G C H A M P I O N S F O RJ U S T I C E A N D T H ER I G H T S O F V I C T I M S

No Witness, No Justice

The No Witness, No Justice (NWNJ) project isa partnership between the Prime Minister'sOffice of Public Services Reform (OPSR), theCPS, ACPO and OCJR. The initiative aims toprovide a more customer-focussed service tovictims and witnesses and to improve theirtreatment by, and experience of, the CJS. Theseenhanced services will enable more witnesses togive evidence, improve witness attendance atcourt, reduce the rate of ineffective trials, andcontribute to narrowing the justice gap andimproving public confidence. The NWNJinitiative met its first key milestone by having atleast one Witness Care Unit (WCU) up andrunning in each Criminal Justice Area by March 2005.


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 19

The evaluation of the NWNJ initiative pilots waspublished in October 2004. The evaluationfound that NWNJ improved witness informationand care, increased witness attendance,improved trial outcomes and increased witnesssatisfaction. The evaluation supported theapproach to national rollout and endorsed theMinimum Requirements as representing goodpractice in victim and witness care. Theserequirements will be used to inform the revisionof the National Standards of Witness Care andthe Victims' Code of Practice.

WCUs bring together the police and CPS toprovide a single point of contact for victims andwitnesses. The units identify possible problemsthat may prevent a witness giving evidence orattending court, such as transport, languagedifficulties, disabilities or particular concerns suchas intimidation. Witness care officers co-ordinatethe support and services provided to thewitness and keep them informed throughout thecase. There are currently 81 Witness Care Unitsopen to the public across the 42 areas with theaim of opening 165 by December 2005.

The specialist WCUs have improved witnessattendance at court by nearly 20 percent in thefive pilot areas of Essex, Gwent, South Yorkshire,North Wales and West Midlands. These areas havealso seen a 27 per cent decrease in the number oftrials adjourned due to witness difficulties.

The value of Witness Care Units was clearlydemonstrated after the murder of Amy Williams.At the time of her death, 14 year old Amy was24 weeks pregnant. Her body was found in StMichael's churchyard, she had been sexuallyassaulted and strangled. Philip Powell wasarrested after DNA evidence connected him tothe crime. The Telford WCU, together with thefamily liaison officer, kept in close contact withAmy's family and witnesses throughout thelength of the case. They provided regularupdates on the progress of the case along withemotional and physical support. The dedicationof HCA Max Bennett and Unit Head ClaireRiley ensured that the considerable evidence

presented was clear and resulted in a guilty plea,sparing the family the ordeal of a lengthy trial.

Powell was sentenced, to life imprisonment atStafford Crown Court with a minimum of 30years to be served before consideration of parole.

Pre-trial interviews

In December 2004, the Attorney Generalpublished a report on “Pre-Trial WitnessInterviews by Prosecutors” which concluded thatprosecutors should be permitted to speak towitnesses in advance of the trial in order toassess the reliability of, or clarify a witness'sevidence.The interview will assist the prosecutorin understanding complex evidence and providean opportunity to explain the criminal processand procedures to the witness.

The Attorney asked the Director to pilotarrangements and work has begun that willinclude the development of a 'Code of Practice'for prosecutors and appropriate training. InAutumn 2005 the CPS intends to pilot theinitiative in Cumbria, Greater Manchester,Lancashire and Merseyside.

Improving the services to vulnerable andintimidated witnesses

The CPS has worked closely with the OCJR andothers to implement the package of measuresproposed in the report Speaking up for Justice,many of which were contained in Part II of theYouth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.These include greater protection for rapevictims; utilising video recorded statements forchildren under 17 and vulnerable adults; and TVlinks for children under 17, vulnerable adultwitnesses and intimidated witnesses.

The pilot projects on the use of intermediariesfor vulnerable witnesses commenced in February2004 in Merseyside and has since rolled out toWest Midlands,Thames Valley, Norfolk, SouthWales and Devon & Cornwall. There are nowapproximately 80 registered Intermediaries

20



around the country, most of whom are speech &language therapists by profession. At the secondAnnual Intermediaries Conference, in London onthe 16th June 2005, Lord Justice Scott-Bakercommented, in his keynote address, that thisinitiative was "novel, important and exciting" andpresented a "crucial new dimension to the CJS,with vulnerable witnesses better able to havetheir evidence heard in criminal courts".

The CPS obtained special measures to allow thelargest number of young witnesses to giveevidence following the death of Luke Walmsley.Luke died from a single stab wound to his heartat Birkbeck School in North Somercotes.

The CPS arranged for all of the young witnessesto give evidence through a TV link from aremote location. All of the witnesses wereinvited to visit the video suite prior to the trialto become familiar with the location. During thetrial the Judge and barristers removed their wigsto make the experience less daunting for thewitnesses and cameras were positioned so thewitnesses would not see the defendant.

The jury at Nottingham Crown Court convictedAllan Pennell of murder by a majority verdict andhe was sentenced to be detained at HerMajesty's pleasure for a minimum of 12 years.

I N S P I R I N G T H EC O N F I D E N C E O F T H EC O M M U N I T I E S W E S E R V E

Community Engagement

The CPS has developed its approach tocommunity engagement and will beimplementing and evaluating three pilots to testthe effectiveness of the community engagementstrategy and framework in different aspects ofthe CPS’s work. The pilots will not only look atan Area's overall approach to communityengagement, but will also concentrate on itseffect in relation to ASBOs and NWNJ. Thepilots will inform good practice and a widercommunity engagement strategy.

Director and Chief Executive lead theway on Community Engagement

During the summer and autumn of 2004-05 theDirector and Chief Executive attended a series ofcommunity engagement meetings at which theDirector shared his vision for the Service withcommunities; listened to communities concerns;and committed to an ongoing dialogue.

A full report of the meetings 'DPP and ChiefExecutive's Community Engagement Meetings - AnAudit of Communities' Concerns and Priorities2004-05' has been sent to all attendees. Agreedactions being taken forward include:

• engaging with disability communities;• considering more cross-agency training on faith

awareness;• improving victim and witness care in black and

minority ethnic communities.

Various communities including BME and faithgroups have been invited to be involved infurther specific initiatives including consultationon our new equality and diversity policy, ourRace Equality Scheme and our work onDomestic Violence.

Vinny Bolina, CPS West Midlands with the Prime Minister


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 21

CPS won the “outstanding contribution toengaging local communities” award at theinaugural Justice Awards ceremony at 10Downing Street. Vinny Bolina,West MidlandsCommunications manager was commended forengaging with the diverse local communities ofthe West Midlands. He has been instrumental inensuring the CPS is present at key local eventssuch as the Asian achievement awards, theBirmingham Pride event and an event inBirmingham to celebrate International Women'sDay. He has also established links with local andnational ethnic media and set up a culturalawareness programme for senior managers toraise awareness of the different cultures andreligions that exist in the West Midlands.

CPS won the overall award for OrganisationalExcellence in Equality and Diversity at the RaceActionNet conference in November 2004. Theaward recognised the community engagementthat underpinned the development of the CPSRacist and Religious Crimes Policy andcommended the level of consultation withcommunities and the accessibility of the policy interms of in style, language and format.

Prosecuting Racist and Religious Crime

The Attorney General and DPP launched theCPS Policy on Prosecuting Racist & ReligiousCrime in July 2003. In May 2004 HMCPSIpublished the Follow-up Review of CPSCasework with a Minority Ethnic Dimensionwhich found significant improvements in theprosecution of these crimes compared to aninitial review in 2002.

In the CPS Racist Incident Monitoring AnnualReport the overall conviction rate rose in caseswith a racist element from 84% to 86%. In 2005-06 the CPS will review performance in theprosecution of hate crimes including racist andreligious crimes compared to a comparable class ofnon-hate crimes.

Patricia Green was arrested on 24th December2002 following a complaint of criminal damageand assault. While resisting arrest Green calledan Asian officer a “Paki black bastard.” She wascharged with racially aggravated threateningwords and behaviour, but in June 2003 magistratesat Warley magistrates court acquitted her statingthat the words were spoken as a continuation ofher opposition to arrest rather than “deliberatelyengaging in racial hostility.” CPS West Midlandsappealed against the decision which was upheld byThe High Court of Justice Queens BenchDivisional Court. The Court agreed that whetherthe defendants abuse was generally motivated byhostility towards the police was irrelevant. In June2004 Green was convicted and sentenced to a 12month conditional discharge and ordered to pay£100 compensation to the officer, PC Qureshi.

Between 23rd April and 16th May 2004brothers Neil and Martin Shepherd shoutedabuse at a gypsy family who were campedbeside the A350 in Dorset, calling them “gyposcum” and “vermin.” The brothers pleaded guiltyto racially aggravated harassment. During thesentencing hearing at Weymouth magistratescourt Chairman of the bench Robert Cowleycommented, “You have subjected an innocentfamily to extreme harassment and distress.

Richard Foster, Laurence Gouldbourne and SéamusTaylor, Director of Equality and Diversity.

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Your behaviour was totally unacceptable.” In June2004 the brothers were sentenced to a 240-hour community punishment order and orderedto pay £1000 each in compensation to thefamily and £50 prosecution costs.

Domestic Violence

In February 2005 the CPS issued revised Policy andGuidance on Prosecuting cases of DomesticViolence together with a linked training programmefor prosecutors and caseworkers. The aim is toimprove the way the CPS deals with cases ofdomestic violence and implement therecommendations of both the joint HMCPSI andHM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)inspection: Violence at Home - the Investigationand Prosecutiion of Cases Involving DomesticViolence and the Evaluation of Specialist CourtsReport. The guidance will address the implicationsof the new Domestic Violence, Crime and VictimsAct 2004, and deal with issues relating to a victim'sbackground and community; including BMEcommunities, same sex relationships, elder abuse,children, disabled victims, travellers, refugees, asylumseekers and sex workers.

A female victim was assaulted by her partnerwithin the sight of her daughter. A videointerview was organised for the child witnessand a Special Measures application was madeand granted.The child gave her evidence via avideo-link which lead to a delay in proceedings.Despite this both the victim and witness felt ableto continue with the prosecution process due tothe support by the Domestic Violence (DV)specialists.The DV Project team in Caerphilly,consisting of the independent domestic violenceadvisor (supporting the victim and witness), thededicated police officer and the lead CPSprosecutor, kept the victim and witness appraisedof every development in the proceedings andarranged a court visit to familiarise them withthe process.The case proceeded to trial and thedefendant was convicted. He received a two-yearCommunity Rehabilitation Order and was orderedto pay £100 compensation and £365 costs.

Homophobic Crime

CPS has established Homophobic Crime Co-ordinators in all Areas who are establishing linkswith local gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendercommunities.Victims of homophobic crime havetraditionally been concerned about reportingincidents for the fear of 'outing' and theconsequences of it, and distrust of the CJS.Legislative changes, the introduction of WCUs,and the work done throughout CPS to raise staffawareness of Homophobic Crime has improvedthe CPS's response to the issue and led toincreased confidence, and reduced the anxietiesand worries of victims.This is leading to anincrease in the number of successfulprosecutions of Homophobic Crime.

CPS has run 5 training courses for AreaHomophobic Crime Co-ordinators.The courseswere designed by the Homophobic CrimeWorking Group who were assisted byrepresentatives of the LGBT community.

Kathy Tayler, Unit Head of the MagistratesCourts' Section at Plymouth said “my highlightfor 2004 was attending training for homophobic


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 23

crime Area Co-ordinators. It was excellent andwas a great chance to meet Co-ordinators fromother Areas”.

“Honour Crimes”

The CPS and police have worked together toraise awareness of “so-called” honour crimes.These crimes usually occur as a reaction againstsomeone who is perceived to have brought“shame” upon the family and encompass a widerange of offending that includes murder, seriousassaults, false imprisonment, kidnapping andforced marriage. Some of the factors that giverise to these crimes include gender inequality,cultural and generational divisions and a victim'srefusal to adhere to a family or clan's code ofconduct or rules about how family membersshould behave. These crimes are usually directedtowards women, but there are also male victimsof “so-called” honour crimes.

Together the CPS and police are developingways in which they can encourage victims andwitnesses to report crimes to supportinvestigations and prosecutions.

In December 2004 the CPS held an HonourCrimes conference aimed at raising awareness ofthe issue. The conference was chaired by NazirAfzal, Director London West Sector, and therewere speakers from the Foreign andCommonwealth Office, the police and awomen's refuge.

Conference attendees heard that the suiciderate among Asian women aged between 15 and25 was three times the national average. For the25 to 35 age group it was twice the average.These statistics have led police to review thedisappearances and deaths of 109 young Asianwomen over the past 10 years to establishwhether they were killed for bringing shame ontheir families. The CPS and police are alsoplanning to ask coroners for details of caseswhere they suspect that Asian women committedsuicide following intimidation or harassment.

Heshu Yones had planned to run away fromhome after starting a relationship with aLebanese teacher. On 12 October 2002 at theirhome in West London her father stabbed Heshu11 times before cutting her throat. Mr Yonesjustified his actions by stating the shame hisdaughter had caused their family left him with nochoice but to resort to extreme actions. Hefeared she was becoming westernised anddisapproved of her Christian boyfriend. MrYones was convicted at the Old Bailey ofmurdering his daughter and was sentenced tolife imprisonment.

ASBOs

The CPS now has 14 specialist prosecutorsappointed in key Areas to lead on prosecutingcases where anti-social behaviour legislationcould help the CPS take effective action againstpersistent offenders.These appointmentscoincided with the CPS being given the formalpower to apply for post-conviction ASBOs.Theappointment of the specialists represents asignificant change in focus for prosecutors, asthey engage with the community and localauthorities and work with CJS partners andother local agencies to ensure a united andconsistent approach to combat anti-socialbehaviour. Each CPS Area now has an actionplan to continue tackling anti-social behaviourand an Area Champion has been appointed in allCPS Areas that do not have a full time expert.

Nazir Afzal, Director CPS London West

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A serial burglar who targeted pensioners hasbeen barred from every home in the countryunder an Anti-Social Behaviour Order. Theconditions mean that John Cash is preventedfrom even phoning anyone with a residentialproperty without the occupier's permission.

The unprecedented order, framed by CPSLondon Prosecutor Edmund Hall, Anti-SocialBehaviour Order Prosecutor for the capital, willrun for five years once Cash is released fromprison.

The heroin addict posed as a police officer and amilkman to persuade his victims - aged from 80to 96 - to let him into their homes. Cash, whoadmitted four burglaries and asked for 258 otheroffences to be taken into consideration, wasjailed for seven years at Harrow Crown Court inJuly 2004.

Dean Lampard, Crown Prosecutor CPS Avon &Somerset, has devised a 'Three Strikes and YourOut' policy to tackle alcohol related anti-socialbehaviour in Taunton. The policy, developed inconjunction with the police, local authority andlocal communities, has reduced the level of anti-social behaviour in the town and helped manyoffenders address their alcohol abuse.

After a first conviction the police issue a yellowcard quoting the health implications of alcoholabuse along with a letter warning of the civil andcriminal sanctions that may follow furtheroffending. After a second conviction theoffender receives a red card with a strongerhealth message and a letter informing them thatthey are banned from all Taunton licensedpremises for the next 28 days. Three convictionswithin a 12-month period, coupled with a breachof the order automatically trigger an ASBOapplication. Names and photographs of thosemade subject to an ASBO are published in localnews media.

Commenting on the policy Dean said, “As wellas being a punitive measure, 'Three Strikes' givesoffenders an incentive to address their behaviourand helps to improve quality of life for the wholecommunity.”

Communications

The CPS has continued to strengthen itsapproach to communications abilities throughoutthe year by improving the CPS website,producing a number of information leaflets and avideo specifically aimed at raising the awarenessof school children.

Householders and the use of forceagainst intruders

A new leaflet, published jointly by the CPS andACPO in February 2005, gives guidance tohouseholders on the force that they can use totackle intruders.

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A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 25

Initially, 100,000 leaflets were distributed within acouple of days of production, but due tounprecedented demand a further 200,000 havenow been issued.

The guidance, which is also available in Welsh andon audio CD, led to a number of significant mediainterviews, including comments from the DPP onBBC TV and Radio News, Sky News, Channel 4News, Radio 5 Live and the PM Programme.

CPS schools video

The CPS schools video, Just Deserts, received arunners-up award in the category “workingtowards raising public confidence amongstdiverse communities”, in the CPS DiversityAwards.

It also won a Gold Medal for Education at theprestigious IVCA (International VisualCommunication Association) awards, where it was up against stiff private and public sector competition.

Designed to be shown primarily to 14 to 16-year-olds, Just Deserts tells the story of Jerome,who witnesses a crime but is initially scared tocome forward, especially after being threatenedby the offenders.The video outlines some of thespecial measures available to witnesses likeJerome and shows how the CPS works withother parts of the CJS to ensure justice is done.

The video has been well received by CPS Areas,with one Manchester-based prosecutorcommenting: “The video is so relevant as itaddresses incidents pertinent to the school andopens the door to discussions about why it isimportant to come forward as a witness.”

Freedom of Information

In the last 12 months, the CPS has been pro-active in ensuring that new prosecution policiesare made widely available. For example,Guidance on the Hunting Act 2004, and theDirectors Guidance on Charging were publishedon the Website as soon as they were published.Over the year, the number of hits on thewebsite has increased from, on average, around60,000 to almost 110,000.

We have made sure that the website conformsto the Disability Discrimination Act and duringthe year an independent group judged it to beone of the top four Central Governmentwebsites in terms of accessibility.

Just

Des

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Representative Workforce

The CPS Annual Equalities in EmploymentReport 2003-04 was published in January 2005.The report shows a significant increase in thenumber of senior female employees and thenumbers of Black and Minority Ethnic legaltrainees in the past year. The number of femaleCPS employees at Senior Civil Service level hasincreased to 27.3%, with female Chief CrownProsecutors increased to 22%. In April 2004Black and Minority Ethnic employees made up14.2% of all CPS employees exceeding the civilservice average of 8 percent.

CPS work in this area was recognised on 24thMay 2005 when the Law Society Commissionfor Racial Equality voted the CPS 'Best EmployerIn-House Legal Departments and Public Sector'at the inaugural Solicitors Race Equality Awards.

“Crime affects people from all walks of life andfrom all communities and it is important that ourstaff are representative of the diverse communitieswe serve. We are seeing more women and Blackand Minority Ethnic staff in senior positions, moreminority ethnic staff employed as CPS prosecutorsand more minority ethnic and disabled staff on ourlegal trainee programme schemes.”Ken Macdonald QC, Director of Public Prosecutions.

In May 2005 the CPS launched its second RaceEquality Scheme, “Building on Success: DeliveringRace Equality. “ Since the original scheme waspublished in 2002 the CPS has made hugeprogress in this area and the second schemebuilds on this success. The scheme wasformulated in consultation with communitygroups as well as internal contributions. At thelaunch of the new scheme Dale Simon,representing the National Black CrownProsecution Association stated she would“recommend the CPS as a career choice forblack professionals”

D R I V I N G C H A N G E A N DD E L I V E R Y I N T H E C J S

Effective Trial Management

The Effective Trial Management Programme(ETMP) aims to reduce the number of ineffectivetrials by improving case preparation andprogression from the point of charge through totrial or earlier disposal. The CPS has beenworking with DCA and other CJS agencies inthe production of the Criminal CaseManagement Framework (CCMF). This waspublished in July 2004 with the endorsement ofthe Lord Chief Justice and senior CJS Ministers.CCMF articulates the roles and responsibilities ofthe agencies in bringing offenders to justice byhelping to improve case preparation andprogression from the charge to finalisation.Theframework is currently being introduced in all 42Areas as part of the overall strategy to reducethe number of ineffective trials in the CrownCourt and in magistrates' courts.

Prolific and Priority Offenders

The CPS is contributing to delivery of the Prolificand Priority Offender Strategy, which waslaunched in September 2004. This is a long-termcrime reduction strategy based on lessons learntin the Persistent Offender Programme and fromsuccessful local schemes.The aim of the strategyis not only to catch and bring offenders tojustice but to stop them re-offending in thefuture. There are three strands to the strategy:prevent and deter ; catch and convict; rehabilitateand resettle. Local Crime and DisorderReduction Partnerships are responsible foridentifying the local prolific and priority offenderscausing the most harm to their communities.TheCPS is working with the OCJR and othercriminal justice agencies to develop a nationalpremium service to tackle prolific and priorityoffenders like that applied in the Street CrimeInitiative.


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 27

A 13-year-old persistent young offender, KennyBlair, had several convictions for dishonesty andbreach of ASBO conditions. On 6th June 2004he was arrested and charged with a series ofoffences. The most serious of these was therape of a vulnerable adult victim who sufferedfrom learning difficulties at two separatelocations on the same day. Kent prosecutor, KenGoss, was involved throughout the case,providing charging advice and applying for specialmeasures to enable the victim to give evidencewithout causing undue distress. Prior to the trialregular meetings were held between theinvestigators, the reviewing lawyer and counselto ensure the best evidence was available. On27th January 2005 Blair was convicted of rape atMaidstone Crown Court and in February 2005at the Royal Court of Justice he was sentencedto a 5-year custodial sentence.

Street Crime

The CPS has worked together with the police,courts and others to target street crime in ten'hot spot' street crime Areas - Thames Valley,West Midlands,West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire,Nottinghamshire, Avon and Somerset, GreaterManchester, Lancashire, London and Merseyside.This partnership has reduced the average weeklyrate of robberies by 39% compared with April2002 and resulted in a significant and sustainedreduction in the number of ineffective streetcrime trials.The Street Crime Initiative formallyconcluded in April 2005, but the Initiative hasgiven us the opportunity to view in detail thewhole of the criminal justice process through thecrime of robbery. The lessons that we arelearning through the Initiative are now beingapplied to other areas, such as prolific andpriority offenders and through the Effective TrialManagement Programme, so that performanceacross the CJS is improved.

Due to ill health Richard Davies, 73, could onlytravel short distances. On 13th August 2004 hecycled to the shops with the intention of using aspecial taxi service to take him home. A taxiwas not available so he asked the occupants of awhite van, Michael Edwardson and Lucinda Shaw,if they would take him home. Shortly afterreturning home Mr Davies saw Ms Shaw whosaid that Mr Edwardson could not find his wallet.At her insistence Mr Davies walked with heraround the outside of the house to look for thewallet. Whilst outside Shaw grabbed his bag andleft Mr Davies with a broken hip on the floor.Ms Shaw later returned and started to call forhelp. When the police arrived Mr Daviesidentified Ms Shaw as the assailant and she wasarrested. Mr Davies was confined to hospitaldue to his injuries. Prosecutor MichaelStephenson visited Mr Davies to keep him up-to-date on progress and answer any questions.Due to his injuries and the distance from thenursing home to the court, CPS Merseysidearranged for Mr Davies to provide his evidencethrough a video link to his bedroom with apoliceman as the accompanying individual. On10th March 2005 Lucinda Shaw was found guiltyof robbery at Liverpool Crown Court andsentenced to four years imprisonment.

Drug Intervention Programme

The Drug Intervention Programme involves CPS,criminal justice agencies and the NationalTreatment Agency working together with otherservice providers to offer a solution foroffenders committing crime to fund their drughabit. At a local level, Drug Action Teams use acase management approach to offer access totreatment and support. Beginning with anoffender being tested for class 'A' drugs while incustody, the CPS uses a positive test result incourt at bail and sentence hearings to encouragethe offender to enter a treatment programme.Since 2003 the programme has rolled out to 64police Basic Command Units that have highlevels of acquisitive crime in England and Wales.A further 32 sites will be added from April 2005.

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Prosecution Team PerformanceManagement

The CPS is working closely with ACPO tointroduce a joint performance managementsystem that will enable the Police and CPS tomonitor and improve cases that are brought forprosecution. Building on the existing CPS CaseManagement IT System, the Prosecution TeamPerformance Management (PTPM) arrangementswill provide detailed data at Divisional Policelevel to monitor performance of cases handledboth at the pre-charge and post-charge stage.PTPM is currently being piloted in fourForces/Areas, and subject to successful evaluationwill be rolled out nationally from May 2005.

B E I N G R E N O W N E D F O RF A I R N E S S E X C E L L E N TC A R E E R O P P O R T U N I T I E SA N D T H E C O M M I T M E N TA N D S K I L L O F A L L O U RP E O P L E

Higher Court Advocates (HCAs) andDesignated Caseworkers (DCWs)

The CPS is introducing an Advocacy Strategywhich aims to make the Service one thatroutinely conducts its own high-quality advocacyin all courts.

The Advocacy Strategy will build on the successof the Hertfordshire and Hampshire and Isle ofWight HCA Pathfinder Pilots, which wereestablished in June 2004. Increased advocacy inCrown Court practice and procedure isproviding HCAs with valuable front-lineexperience, enhancing their performance skillsand delivering a high quality service to theCrown Court.

As part of the strategy the CPS is increasingboth the number and use of DCWs in themagistrates' courts. DCWs are prosecuting a range of straightforward cases allowing moreCPS prosecutors to engage in more complicatedtrials in magistrates' courts and the Crown Court.

In January 2005, Hampshire Senior CrownProsecutor Ian Harris became the first HCAfrom one of the two Pilot Areas to appear in theCourt of Appeal. In April 2004 Stephen Bain, adisqualified driver, incorrectly believing policewere chasing him, began weaving in and out oftraffic on the A3M in Hampshire at high speed.His three passengers begged him to stop and,when he crashed, Bain fled the scene leaving hisfront seat passenger with life-threatening headinjuries. The CPS pre-charge advice lawyer feltthat Dangerous Driving alone, with a two-yearmaximum sentence, did not fully reflect whatBain had done, so he was also charged withcausing grievous bodily harm (GBH), whichcarries up to 5 years. Bain pleaded guilty toboth offences and was sentenced at PortsmouthCrown Court to a total of 40 monthsimprisonment but then appealed, saying it waswrong to charge both GBH and dangerousdriving and to impose a sentence longer thanthe two-year maximum for dangerous driving.Ian represented the prosecution in legalargument at the Court of Appeal, which heldthat there was nothing wrong with charging bothoffences, vindicating the original CPS decision.Ian met with the victim both before and afterthe appeal hearing to advise her of the processand answer any questions she might have.

In September 2004 the CPS held its first DCWConference in Grantham. The conference waswell attended with both the DPP and ChiefExecutive providing keynote speeches. Theconference was a positive opportunity forDCWs and senior management to discuss theextended powers for DCWs which came in toforce on 1st April 2004. The success and valueof the conference has led to the organisation ofan annual event.

Operation Deft began in August 2003. The aimof this was to conduct covert observations ondrug dealers responsible for large-scalesystematic distribution of drugs in Wiltshire. As aresult of this work Darren Mensah was revealedto have supplied cocaine and cannabis from June2002-June 2004. Following investigations Mensah


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 29

and 8 associates were arrested and charged withconspiring to supply class A drugs (cocaine) andconspiracy to supply controlled drugs (cannabis)to others. Caseworker Peter Lewis fulfilled anumber of roles during the case including;providing assistance to police officers on runningmajor operations; answering requests fromdefence teams; and keeping counsel informed ofprogress. On 10th May 2005 seven defendantswere convicted of one or both charges andsentenced to custodial sentences of between 2and 11 years. Following the trial Counselcommended Peter for his work, praising him forhis “remarkable level of professionalism” andstating he was “a credit to the CrownProsecution Service.”

In the early hours on Saturday 3rd August 2002two females awoke to find an intruder in theirroom. William Cantile, masked and armed witha knife and a hammer demanded that theyperform a sexual act, when they refused heattacked them. Full DNA tests performed at thetime on the knife and hammer, which were leftat the scene, proved negative. In October 2003the investigation was reviewed and supported bythe reviewing lawyer, HCA Mark Carrington,new DNA techniques were used and identifiedCantile as the likely offender. Mark, also theHomophobic Crime Co-ordinator, prepared thecase for trial using his in-depth knowledge of badcharacter, hearsay and new sentencing provisionswhich all played a significant part in the trial. Ateach stage of the process the victims were keptup-to-date on what was happening and screenswere used to allow them to give their evidence.On 22 April 2005 Cantile was convicted of twocounts of wounding with intent and due to hisprevious conviction for rape was sentenced tolife imprisonment with a determinate period ofsix years.

Developing our Staff

The CPS is committed to developing all itspeople and providing a wide range ofopportunities. These range from courses run todevelop administration staff by enhancing work

related skills through the Diploma in Personaland Professional Development to providingsecondments in other criminal justice agencies.

Carol Batten, office administrator at TauntonTrials Unit, successfully achieved a ProfessionalDiploma in Personal and ProfessionalDevelopment with Leeds University.The diplomais designed to enhance individual developmentas well as improve work-related skills.

In February 2005 Duncan Birrell became thefirst CPS lawyer to become a Deputy DistrictJudge. He was one of 25 successful candidatesselected from nearly 500 applications from boththe private and public sector. Mr Birrell cannotpreside over cases prosecuted by the CPS, butcan sit on cases prosecutedby authorities including HM Revenue & Customs,DTI, local authorities,DWP and RSPCA.

Carol Batten

Duncan Birrell

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Increasing Opportunity

The CPS is the biggest legal services employer inthe UK with a reputation for providing highquality career development opportunities to allits staff.

CPS staff secured a record number of places inthis year's Cabinet Office sponsored DisabilityBursary Scheme. The bursary identifies disabledstaff with the potential to reach the senior levelsof the Civil Service and provides each holderwith £10,000 worth of development activity.

Oliver Haswell, CPS Gwent, secured one ofthese places and has spent time with the Foreignand Commonwealth Office where he gainedvaluable new skills that he has been able to tailorto his current role as a Communication andDiversity Officer.

In December 2004 CPS West Midlands becameone of the first CPS Areas to sign up to a formalagreement with Remploy, the UK's largestprovider of employment opportunities forpeople with disabilities and health issues in theUK. The agreement contains a package ofmeasures to recruit, secure and retain employeeswith health problems or disabilities. The initiativewill help people switch from incapacity benefitinto paid employment.

Mike Grist, ABM, CPS West Midlands said “This isan excellent opportunity for the CPS to assistpeople with disabilities to not only get them intoemployment but also support them via trainingand development in order for them to progressthrough the organisation.”

Legal Trainees/Legal Scholarships

The CPS Law Scholarship Scheme is now in itssecond year. The Scheme gives employees theopportunity to study for legal qualificationsranging from A levels to Legal PracticeCourse/Bar Vocational Courses. The Schemecurrently has 320 scholars of whichapproximately 215 are women and 27% arefrom black and minority ethnic communities,which is an increase of 7% since 2003.Withinthis scheme the CPS has 52 Legal Traineesundertaking their training contracts or pupillagewith the Service.

The CPS won the Best Recruiter & Trainer : In-house/Public Sector category at a legal trainingand recruitment awards ceremony in June 2004.Jointly sponsored by online magazine LawCareers.Net and the Trainee Solicitors' group theawards honour the best in UK legal training andrecruitment. Speaking of the award CPS trainingprincipal Lesley Williams said, “We wereparticularly pleased with this one as we werenominated by the people we trained rather thanputting ourselves forward.”

Leadership and Development

The CPS leadership development programme,Transform, was launched in April 2003 and hasdeveloped into a comprehensive programme ofdevelopment for existing, new and aspiringmanagers. Training has been provided to all Areaand Sector Business Managers and new ChiefCrown Prosecutors. Seventy-eight Unit Headshave also attended the Transform programmeand a number are currently undertaking furtherdevelopment via the Advanced ProfessionalDiploma in Leadership and Management withLeeds Metropolitan University.The CPS is alsoidentifying new talent with 24 new and aspiring

Oliver Haswell


A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 31

managers having completed the Institute ofLeadership and Management's diploma.

In November 2004 the CPS won the Innovationin Career Development category at thePersonnel Today Awards 2004 for developing theLaw Scholarship Scheme. The awarddemonstrates the success of the scheme and the ability of the CPS to compete with theprivate sector.

Staff Survey

The 2004 staff survey “Your Voice 2004” waspublished in May 2004. The survey highlightedsignificant improvements in staff attitudes andsatisfaction including; 19% improvement in thebelief that CPS provided good career progressionopportunities; and a 16% improvement in thosewho think that the quality of service offered bythe CPS is good.After analysing the results of the survey the CPSidentified five keys areas in which improvementswould be implemented over the next two years.These were; Communication, Health and Safety,Induction, Management and Leadership, andRecruitment. The CPS, together with keystakeholders, produced a Corporate LevelAction Plan which sets out actions that need tobe taken in the five key areas. The corporatelevel plan does not seek to replace the workthat individual Areas/HQ Directorates areundertaking to address their own key areas forimprovement but will take forward actions thataffect the CPS as a whole. The next staff surveywill take place in March 2006.

Recruitment Process

The CPS has improved recruitment policies andprocedures. The aim is to improve the standardof new entrants whilst reducing costs and theoverall time taken to recruit staff to ten weeks.Following this work a new recruitment processwas introduced in June 2004 including asupporting “online” system. The recruitmentinitiatives are also complemented by newinduction and innovative learning packages suchas the prosecution college lawyer induction.These courses have been rolled outprogressively throughout 2004-05.

Prosecution College

The Prosecution College was launched inNovember 2004 and will provide the main focusfor learning and development across the CPS inthe future. It will offer a range of high qualitymodules and courses for our staff and partnersin the CJS. The virtual Prosecution College willbe the main 'hub' for information about learningand development opportunities. It will alsoprovide a number of online learningprogrammes.We are at the early stages ofdevelopment but have already introducedinnovative learning packages such as lawyerinduction, equality and diversity and NWNJmodules.

“I thought the online induction modules werevery helpful and very well thought out. Theycertainly enabled me to focus on the issues ofcharging standards and the code" Ellen Greaves,Crown Prosecutor, CPS London.

CPS Workforce Strategy

The Pay and Workforce Strategy was publishedin Autumn 2004. This is an integrated strategythat recognises the part played by lawyers andthose who provide a supporting role in theprosecuting function.

Maximising Attendance

In April 2004 the Maximising Attendance Projectwas launched with the aim of improving absencemanagement in the CPS.

The Project is focussing on the following areas ofactivity over the next two years:• improving management information on

sickness absence and data collection systems;• establishing realistic but challenging targets for

the reduction of sickness absence withprogress reports presented to the CPS Board;

• reviewing and updating the current policies onsickness absence;

• providing guidance for managers andindividuals on sickness absence managementroles and responsibilities with training whereappropriate;

• developing solutions to tackle longer-termabsences.

The CPS sickness absence rate has fallen by5.4% to 8.7 days a year and is currently 1.3%better than the Civil Service average.

B U I L D I N G C A PA C I T Y TOD E L I V E R

Improving Governance

During 2004-05, the CPS conducted a review ofits governance structures and introduced newarrangements for the CPS Board to provide a farmore strategic role in driving CPS delivery andreform and far less about day-to-daymanagement issues.The review also established anew Committee structure in support of theBoard covering:

• Policy, Strategy and Diversity;• Delivery and Change;• Finance;• People and Equality;• Information and Communications Technology;• Professional Standards; and• Audit.

The new Committees have significant CCP andABM membership and draw on the experienceof the three CPS non-executive Directors, whoalso sit on the CPS Board. Under thesearrangements no decisions on prosecutionpolicies, new initiatives, HR, ICT or investmentare made without going through the appropriateCommittee or Board arrangements.

Restructuring HQ

A programme of work to re-structure HumanResources (HR) Directorate was completed atthe end of April 2005. This work hastransformed the Directorate to provide strong,professional, and IT-enabled support and adviceto frontline managers and develop effective HRpolicies to support the Service's reformprogramme.

In January 2005 an implementation plan was putin place for Policy Directorate. This has resultedin the introduction of Account Managers, whoare responsible for influencing criminal justicelegislation and reform in the Home Office andthe DCA, which will lead to a more proactiveand outward looking policy function.

The Business and Information SystemsDirectorate has streamlined its managementteam and introduced an improved structure thathas increased; the capability of the Directorate toprovide information and communicationstechnology support to the prosecution process;and work with CJIT, the police and courts to joinup CJS IT systems.

The Service is also responding to anindependent review of CPS communications todevelop a stronger approach to both internaland external communications. The aim of this isto build corporate identity by raising publicawareness and confidence in CPS as aprosecutor; and build pride and trust in the CPSamong our people.

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Rationalising Service Centres

The CPS has reviewed the way it providessupport services to Areas and HQ. As a result,the Service has rationalised the existing tenService Centres into four specialist centres forthe provision of HR, Finance and FacilitiesManagement services.These and related changesto HR Directorate will provide improved localadvice and support for Areas.The ServiceCentre rationalisation has allowed the CPS torelocate approximately 30 posts out of theSouth East to meet Lyons Review commitments.

Risk Management

The CPS has continued to develop its riskmanagement approach to help manage thedelivery of its targets and reform programme.The potential risks identified for 2004-05 were:

• major damage to CPS reputation from failureto deliver the full change programme on timedue to insufficient funding;

• major damage to CPS reputation from thefailure of the Charging Programme;

• CMS systems failure leads to a significant andsustained interruption to CPS ability tooperate efficiently;

• efficiency & effectiveness benefits from CMS,necessary to deliver the PSA targets andchange programme are not realised orsustained;

• damage to CPS public standing from adversepublicity in high profile cases;

• insufficient human resource capacity andcapability to deliver the PSA targets and changeprogramme as planned;

• inability to integrate Victims & Witnesscommitments with existing change prioritiesundermines success of the PSA publicconfidence target;

• over commitment in the change programmeundermines delivery of day-to-day prosecutionservices, the contribution to PSA delivery; CJSreform; partnership credibility and thereputation of the CPS.

Centre of Excellence (COE)

The aim of the CPS's Centre of Excellence forProject and Programme management is toensure that the CPS does the right projects, theright way the first time by:

• using best practice project and programmemanagement methods;

• providing timely Executive Information todecision-making boards;

• developing the skills of our people;• providing consultative support to projects

and programmes.

In November 2004 the CPS won an OGCDelivery award for significant success in theadoption and use of programme and projectstandards, best practice and skills. The awardcitation noted that the CPS has achievedsignificant success in tailoring a wide range of bestpractice products into valuable useful systems.

Sustainable Development

The CPS continues to incorporate sustainabledevelopment initiatives within the work of thedepartment.The key objectives are; integratingsustainable development into decision making;raising awareness of sustainable development;and improving the performance of the estate.

Over the year the CPS has continued torespond to the government wide SustainableDevelopment Action Plan produced by theSustainable Development Advisory Group(SDAG). This response includes:• reviewing its waste collections;• improved data collection leading to the

extension of our renewable energy contract;and

• establishing local Sustainable DevelopmentCommittees in family group areas.

Staff in both Procurement and CommercialServices and the Facilities Management BusinessCentre (FMBC) have received SustainableProcurement and Sustainable Developmentawareness training respectively. Staff in theFMBC also have Sustainable Developmentincorporated into their job descriptions.

Improved Procurement

The CPS has continued to implementeProcurement for a range of goods and servicesresulting in significant value for money savingsand process improvements. On-line ordering forthe main commodities used by the Service hasbeen successfully rolled out and so far threeelectronic tenders have been conducted,reducing process costs for both bidders and the CPS.

A Law Officers' Departments ProcurementFacilities Working Group has been establishedwith a view to pursuing collaborativeopportunities where these would lead toimproved value for money.To date there hasbeen collaboration on procurement projects forpension fund administrations and security guards.

The CPS has conducted a survey of the diversityof its supplier base using the procurementguidance issued by the Commission for RacialEquality. Information obtained from this will assistin the development of strategies aimed atopening up procurement opportunities to thewider supplier community.

Improving the management ofprosecution costs

The CPS has been working closely with theDCA on a shared strategy for the managementof defence and prosecution costs. As part of thatstrategy, the CPS has developed a number ofinitiatives to deal with long running cases invarious ways.

The CPS currently pays fees to barristers inCrown Court cases expected to last up to 25days in length in accordance with the GraduatedFee Scheme (GFS). GFS provides greatercertainty of fee payments than individual casenegotiation. CPS intends to extend GFS to casesexpected to last up to 40 days at trial and has:

• launched in three vanguard Areas a Very HighCosts Case (VHCC) contract scheme for themanagement of counsel fees in cases expectedto last 40 days or more;

• established a new role of Case Auditor tooversee the proper application of the VHCCprocess;

• introduced a Case Management Panel forcases expected to last 6 months or more attrial, chaired by the Director of PublicProsecutions, to ensure that these casesattracting substantial media and public interest,whilst consuming considerable resources arebeing managed effectively.

We will also ensure CCPs and Heads ofCasework Divisions take an active role inmanaging cases where trials are estimated to lastfor more than 8 weeks but less than 6 months.These measures will help Areas deal with highcost cases and are part of the approach formore effective trial management.

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A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 35

36

A N N E X A

C A S E W O R K S TAT I S T I C S

In these statistics, a defendant represents oneperson in a single set of proceedings, which mayinvolve one or more charges. A set ofproceedings usually relates to an incident orseries of related incidents that are the subject ofa police file. If a set of proceedings relates tomore than one person then each is counted as adefendant. Sometimes one person is involved inseveral sets of proceedings during the sameyear: if so, he or she is counted as a defendanton each occasion.

The figures comprise defendants dealt with bythe 42 Areas of the Service, but do not includethe specialised casework handled by CaseworkDirectorate.

Chart 1: Magistrates’ courts: caseload

Chart 1 shows the number of cases dealt withby the CPS, in 2004-05 and the two precedingyears.

The number of defendants in respect of whomthe CPS provided pre-charge advice to thepolice rose by 126.3% during 2004-05, reflectingthe impact of prosecutors assuming responsibilityfor the decision to charge in all but minor cases.Over the period 2004-05 all Areas have beenproviding pre-charge advice, some via thestatutory scheme, and some by operating ashadow non-statutory scheme.

The number of defendants prosecuted by theCPS fell by 8.4% during the year. Several factorsmay affect this figure, including the number ofarrests, the impact of the early involvement ofprosecutors, the number of offences cleared upby the police, and the number of offenderscautioned by the police.

The present fall in caseload may also be relatedto lower levels of recorded crime, and to anincreasing number of comparatively minoroffences now dealt with by way of a fixedpenalty without CPS involvement.

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Pre-charge decisions* 64,456 194,928 441,194

Prosecuted by CPS 1,274,852 1,274,615 1,168,078

Other proceedings 8,853 17,225 7,028

Pre-charge decisions: in all but minor cases,and those where a guilty plea is anticipated,Crown Prosecutors are responsible for decidingwhether a person should be charged with acriminal offence and, if so, what that offenceshould be in accordance with the Director’sGuidelines. The figures shown here comprise allsuch decisions, regardless of whether thedecision was to prosecute or not. *Many pre-charge decisions will have been made in casessubsequently prosecuted by the CPS

Prosecuted by the CPS: this figure comprisesall defendants charged or summonsed whosecase was completed in magistrates’ courts duringthe period, including those proceeding to a trialor guilty plea, those discontinued, and thosewhich could not proceed. Cases committed orsent for trial in the Crown Court are notincluded. Further information on the type offinalisations is shown at chart 3;

other proceedings: non-criminal matters,such as forfeiture proceedings under theObscene Publications Acts.

Chart 2: Magistrates’ courts: types of cases

Chart 2 shows the different types of cases dealtwith by the CPS in magistrates’ courts. They are:

summary: cases which can be tried only in themagistrates’ courts;

Summary

Indictable/either way


Discontinuances (including bind overs)

Warrants etc

Discharges

Dismissals no case to answer

Dismissals after trial

Proofs in absence

Guilty pleas

Convictions after trial

C A S E W O R K S TAT I S T I C S 37

A N N E X A

indictable/either way: indictable only casescan be tried only in the Crown Court, buteither way cases may be tried either inmagistrates’ courts or in the Crown Court.

2002-03 % 2003-04 % 2004-05 %

Summary 796,742 58.5 836,973 61.4 792,725 63.6

Indictable/ 565,570 41.5 525,345 38.6 453,115 36.4

either way

Total 1,362,312 1,362,318 1,245,840

Chart 3: Magistrates’ courts: caseoutcomes

Chart 3 shows the outcome of defendant casescompleted during the year. These are caseswhere a decision has been made by police orCPS to charge or summons. Cases mayproceed to prosecution or be discontinued atany stage of the proceedings up to the start oftrial.

Discontinuances: Circumstances often leavethe CPS no choice but to discontinue: forexample when witnesses fail to attend court orchange their evidence; when defendants waituntil the day of the trial before producingdocuments proving their innocence (such as adriving licence); or when the police are unable tofill gaps in the evidence. Discontinuance canoccur at any time up until the start of trial, orthe defendant pleads guilty. The figures includeboth cases discontinued in advance of thehearing and those withdrawn at court. Alsoincluded are cases in which the defendant wasbound over to keep the peace;

Warrants etc: when the prosecution cannotproceed because the defendant has failed toappear at court and a Bench Warrant has beenissued for his or her arrest; or the defendant hasdied; or where proceedings are adjournedindefinitely. These cases are not discontinued.The majority could not proceed because thepolice could not find a defendant: if thedefendant is subsequently traced, then theprosecution may continue.

Discharges: committal proceedings in whichthe defendant is discharged. The number ofdischarges may be misleading. The newCompass Case Management System has onlyrecently begun to capture these cases to bereported as a discrete outcome. The numbersare expected to stabilise and then graduallydecrease;

Dismissals no case to answer: cases in which the defendant pleads not guilty andprosecution evidence is heard, but proceedingsare dismissed by the magistrates without hearingthe defence case;

Dismissals after trial: cases in which thedefendant pleads not guilty and proceedings aredismissed by the magistrates after hearing thedefence case – a not guilty verdict;

Proofs in absence: these are mostly minormotoring matters which are heard by the courtin the absence of the defendant;

Guilty pleas: where the defendant pleads guilty;


38

A N N E X A


Convictions after trial: cases in which thedefendant pleads not guilty but is convicted afterthe evidence is heard.

2002-03 % 2003-04 % 2004-05 %

Discontinuances

(including 197,680 15.5 175,779 13.8 146,268 12.5

bind overs)

Warrants etc 80,477 6.3 72,078 5.7 53,408 4.6

Discharges 1,006 0.1 2,225 0.2 3,444 0.3

Dismissals 1,745 0.1 3,053 0.2 3,681 0.3

no case to answer

Dismissals 15,452 1.2 15,997 1.3 17,839 1.5

after trial

Proofs 126,518 9.9 152,757 12.0 169,681 14.5

in absence

Guilty pleas 811,583 63.7 800,525 62.8 716,082 61.3

Convictions 40,391 3.2 52,201 4.1 57,675 4.9

after trial

Total 1,274,852 1,274,615 1,168,078

Discontinuances have continued to fall substantiallysince 2002-03. This is believed to be largely apositive outcome of the charging initiative.Recent years have seen a gradual downwardtrend in discontinuance, from 16.2% in 2001-02to 15.5% in 2002-03, to 13.8% in 2003-04, andto 12.5% in 2004-05, reflecting the impact of thecharging initiative.

Convictions rose from 76.8% of all outcomes in2002-03 to 78.9% in 2003-04 and to 80.8% in2004-05. Over the same period, unsuccessfuloutcomes fell from 23.2% in 2002-03, to 21.1%in 2003-04, and to 19.2% in 2004-05. Again,another positive outcome of charging.

97.8% of cases proceeding to a hearing (trial orguilty plea) resulted in a conviction, little changedcompared with the previous year.Where a defendant pleads guilty to somecharges in a set of proceedings, and not guilty toothers, the above figures include both the guiltyplea and the outcome of the subsequentcontested hearing.

Chart 4: Magistrates’ courts:committalsto the Crown Court

In addition to the above cases, which werecompleted in magistrates’ courts, the followingnumbers of defendants were committed or sent fortrial in the Crown Court:

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

committals 92,649 100,490 93,936

for trial

Chart 5: Crown Court caseload

Chart 5 shows the number of defendants whosecase was completed in the Crown Court:

Prosecuted by the CPS: This figurecomprises all cases proceeding to trial or guiltyplea in the Crown Court, together with thosediscontinued or dropped by the CPS after havingbeen committed or sent for trial. The outcomeof these proceedings is shown at chart 7;

appeals: defendants tried in magistrates’ courtsmay appeal to the Crown Court against theirconviction and/or sentence;


C A S E W O R K S TAT I S T I C S 39

A N N E X A

Judge ordered aquittals

Warrants etc

Judge directed aquittals

Acquittals after trials

Guilty pleas


Magistrates’ directions

Defendants’ elections

Indictable only

committals for sentence: some defendantstried and convicted by the magistrates’ arecommitted to the Crown Court for sentence, ifthe magistrates’ decide that greater punishmentis needed than they can impose.

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Prosecuted 96,233 97,375 94,737 by the CPS

Appeals 11,504 11,418 11,960

Committals 19,659 20,191 19,672for sentence

The number of defendants prosecuted fell by2.7% during 2004-05.

Chart 6: Crown Court: source of committals for trial

magistrates’ direction: these are either wayproceedings which the magistrates’ thought were serious enough to call for trial in the CrownCourt;

defendants’ elections: these are either wayproceedings in which the defendant choseCrown Court trial;

indictable only: these are more serious caseswhich can only be tried in the Crown Court.

2002-03 % 2003-04 % 2004-05 %

Magistrates’40,27442.641,99744.1 49,355 54.3directions:

Defendants’15,05115.913,037 13.7 5,045 5.6elections:

Indictable 39,22141.5 40,200 42.2 36,490 40.1only:

Total: 94,546 95,234 90,890

Indictable only cases represented 40.1% of thetotal compared with only 18.2% in 1991-92.

Chart 7: Crown Court: case outcomes

Cases against defendants committed for trial inthe Crown Court can by completed in severalways:

Judge ordered acquittals: These are caseswhere problems are identified after a case iscommitted or sent to the Crown Court. Theprosecution offers no evidence, and the judgeorders a formal acquittal of the defendant.These include cases where the defendant hasserious medical problems; or has already beendealt with for other offences; or when witnessesare missing. Cases sent to the Crown Courtunder s51 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 andsubsequently discontinued are also included inthis total. Also included are cases in whichcharges do not proceed to a trial, and thedefendant is bound over to keep the peace;

Warrants etc: when the prosecution cannotproceed because the defendant fails to attendcourt and a Bench Warrant has been issued forhis or her arrest; or the defendant has died; or isfound unfit to plead. If the police trace a missingdefendant, then proceedings can continue;

Judge directed acquittals: these are caseswhere, at the close of the prosecution caseagainst the defendant, a successful submission of‘no case’ or ‘unsafe’ is made and the judge directsan acquittal rather than allow the case to bedetermined by the Jury;

Acquittals after trial: when the defendantpleads not guilty and, following a trial, isacquitted by the jury.;

Guilty pleas: where the defendant pleadsguilty;


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Convictions after trial: cases in which thedefendant pleads not guilty but following a trial,is convicted by the jury.

2002-03 % 2003-04 % 2004-05 %

judge 14,671 15.2 14,358 14.7 13,430 14.2

ordered acquittals

(including bind overs)

warrants etc 1,766 1.8 2,171 2.2 1,635 1.7

judge 1,500 1.6 1,538 1.6 1,883 2.0

directed acquittals

acquittals 6,573 6.8 6,652 6.8 5,976 6.3

after trial

guilty pleas 58,624 60.9 59,537 61.1 58,222 61.5

convictions 13,099 13.6 13,119 13.5 13,591 14.3

after trial

Total 96,233 97,375 94,737

Convictions rose to 75.8% of all outcomescompared with 74.6% in 2003-04, whileunsuccessful outcomes fell to 24.2% comparedwith 25.4% in 2004-05.

90.1% of cases proceeding to a hearing (trial orguilty plea) resulted in a conviction, comparedwith 89.9% in the previous year.

The above figures include acquittals following amix of guilty and not guilty pleas as well as thosein which the defendant pleaded not guilty to allcounts on the indictment.

AGENT USAGE

The proportion of half day sessions inmagistrates’ courts covered by lawyers in privatepractice acting as agents during 2004-05 was26.9% compared with 29.9% 2003-04.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has issuedguidance under Section 37A(1) of the Police andCriminal Evidence Act 1985 as amended by theCriminal Justice Act 2003,as follows;

• The Directors Guidance on Charging (Firstand Second Edition) plus a third version, whichadded the new Terrorism Act to Annex Asecond edition.

• The Directors Guidance on making chargingdecisions in Persistent Youth Offender Cases,operational in the pathfinder sites ofSouthampton and Ipswich only.

• The Directors Guidance on ConditionalCautioning, bringing Conditional Cautioninginto operation in the early implementation sites.

All S37A Guidance is available on the CPSwebsite.

G U I D A N C E I S S U E D B Y T H E D I R E C TO R 41

A N N E X B

The Crown Prosecution Service is the principalpublic prosecuting authority for England andWales and is headed by the Director of PublicProsecutions.The Attorney General isaccountable to Parliament for the Service.

The Crown Prosecution Service is a nationalorganisation consisting of 42 Areas. Each Area isheaded by a Chief Crown Prosecutor andcorresponds to a single police force area, withone for London. It was set up in 1986 toprosecute cases investigated by the police.

Although the Crown Prosecution Service worksclosely with the police, it is independent of them.The independence of Crown Prosecutors is offundamental constitutional importance.Casework decisions taken with fairness,impartiality and integrity help deliver justice forvictims, witnesses, defendants and the public.

The Crown Prosecution Service co-operateswith the investigating and prosecuting agencies ofother jurisdictions.

The Director of Public Prosecutions isresponsible for issuing a Code for CrownProsecutors under section 10 of the Prosecutionof Offences Act 1985, giving guidance on thegeneral principles to be applied when makingdecisions about prosecutions.This is the fifthedition of the Code and replaces all earlierversions. For the purpose of this Code, ‘CrownProsecutor’ includes members of staff in theCrown Prosecution Service who are designatedby the Director of Public Prosecutions undersection 7A of the Act and are exercising powersunder that section.

1 Introduction

1.1 The decision to prosecute an individual is aserious step. Fair and effective prosecutionis essential to the maintenance of law andorder. Even in a small case a prosecutionhas serious implications for all involved -victims, witnesses and defendants.TheCrown Prosecution Service applies theCode for Crown Prosecutors so that it canmake fair and consistent decisions aboutprosecutions.

1.2 The Code helps the Crown ProsecutionService to play its part in making sure thatjustice is done. It contains information thatis important to police officers and otherswho work in the criminal justice system andto the general public. Police officers shouldapply the provisions of this Code wheneverthey are responsible for deciding whetherto charge a person with an offence.

1.3 The Code is also designed to make surethat everyone knows the principles that the Crown Prosecution Service applieswhen carrying out its work. By applying thesame principles, everyone involved in thesystem is helping to treat victims, witnessesand defendants fairly, while prosecutingcases effectively.

2 General Principles

2.1 Each case is unique and must beconsidered on its own facts and merits.However, there are general principles thatapply to the way in which CrownProsecutors must approach every case.

2.2 Crown Prosecutors must be fair,independent and objective. They must notlet any personal views about ethnic ornational origin, disability, sex, religious beliefs,political views or the sexual orientation ofthe suspect, victim or witness influence their decisions.They must not be affectedby improper or undue pressure from any source.

2.3 It is the duty of Crown Prosecutors tomake sure that the right person isprosecuted for the right offence. In doingso, Crown Prosecutors must always act inthe interests of justice and not solely forthe purpose of obtaining a conviction.

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C O D E F O R C R O W N P R O S E C U TO R S

2.4 Crown Prosecutors should provideguidance and advice to investigatorsthroughout the investigative andprosecuting process.This may include linesof inquiry, evidential requirements andassistance in any pre-charge procedures.Crown Prosecutors will be proactive inidentifying and, where possible, rectifyingevidential deficiencies and in bringing to anearly conclusion those cases that cannot bestrengthened by further investigation.

2.5 It is the duty of Crown Prosecutors toreview, advise on and prosecute cases,ensuring that the law is properly applied,that all relevant evidence is put before thecourt and that obligations of disclosure arecomplied with, in accordance with theprinciples set out in this Code.

2.6 The Crown Prosecution Service is a publicauthority for the purposes of the HumanRights Act 1998. Crown Prosecutors mustapply the principles of the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights inaccordance with the Act.

3 The Decision to Prosecute

3.1 In most cases, Crown Prosecutors areresponsible for deciding whether a personshould be charged with a criminal offence,and if so, what that offence should be.Crown Prosecutors make these decisions inaccordance with this Code and theDirector’s Guidance on Charging. In thosecases where the police determine thecharge, which are usually more minor androutine cases, they apply the same provisions.

3.2 Crown Prosecutors make charging decisionsin accordance with the Full Code Test (seesection 5 below), other than in those limitedcircumstances where the Threshold Testapplies (see section 6 below).

3.3 The Threshold Test applies where the caseis one in which it is proposed to keep thesuspect in custody after charge, but theevidence required to apply the Full CodeTest is not yet available.

3.4 Where a Crown Prosecutor makes acharging decision in accordance with theThreshold Test, the case must be reviewedin accordance with the Full Code Test assoon as reasonably practicable, taking intoaccount the progress of the investigation.

4 Review

4.1 Each case the Crown Prosecution Servicereceives from the police is reviewed tomake sure that it is right to proceed with aprosecution. Unless the Threshold Testapplies, the Crown Prosecution Service willonly start or continue with a prosecutionwhen the case has passed both stages ofthe Full Code Test.

4.2 Review is a continuing process and CrownProsecutors must take account of anychange in circumstances.Wherever possible,they should talk to the police first if theyare thinking about changing the charges orstopping the case. Crown Prosecutorsshould also tell the police if they believethat some additional evidence maystrengthen the case.This gives the policethe chance to provide more informationthat may affect the decision.

4.3 The Crown Prosecution Service and thepolice work closely together, but the finalresponsibility for the decision whether ornot a charge or a case should go aheadrests with the Crown Prosecution Service.

5 The Full Code Test

5.1 The Full Code Test has two stages.The firststage is consideration of the evidence. If thecase does not pass the evidential stage itmust not go ahead no matter howimportant or serious it may be. If the casedoes pass the evidential stage, CrownProsecutors must proceed to the secondstage and decide if a prosecution is neededin the public interest.The evidential andpublic interest stages are explained below.

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The Evidential Stage

5.2 Crown Prosecutors must be satisfied thatthere is enough evidence to provide a‘realistic prospect of conviction’ against eachdefendant on each charge.They mustconsider what the defence case may be,and how that is likely to affect theprosecution case.

5.3 A realistic prospect of conviction is anobjective test. It means that a jury or benchof magistrates or judge hearing a casealone, properly directed in accordance withthe law, is more likely than not to convictthe defendant of the charge alleged. This isa separate test from the one that thecriminal courts themselves must apply. Acourt should only convict if satisfied so thatit is sure of a defendant’s guilt.

5.4 When deciding whether there is enoughevidence to prosecute, Crown Prosecutorsmust consider whether the evidence can beused and is reliable.There will be manycases in which the evidence does not giveany cause for concern. But there will alsobe cases in which the evidence may not beas strong as it first appears. CrownProsecutors must ask themselves thefollowing questions:

Can the evidence be used in court? Is the evidence reliable?

a Is it likely that the evidence will beexcluded by the court? There are certainlegal rules which might mean that evidencewhich seems relevant cannot be given at atrial. For example, is it likely that theevidence will be excluded because of theway in which it was gathered? If so, is thereenough other evidence for a realisticprospect of conviction?

b Is there evidence which might support ordetract from the reliability of a confession?Is the reliability affected by factors such asthe defendant’s age, intelligence or level ofunderstanding?

c What explanation has the defendant given?Is a court likely to find it credible in thelight of the evidence as a whole? Does itsupport an innocent explanation?

d If the identity of the defendant is likely tobe questioned, is the evidence about thisstrong enough?

e Is the witness’s background likely to weakenthe prosecution case? For example, doesthe witness have any motive that may affecthis or her attitude to the case, or a relevantprevious conviction?

f Are there concerns over the accuracy orcredibility of a witness? Are these concernsbased on evidence or simply informationwith nothing to support it? Is therefurtherevidence which the police should beasked to seek out which may support ordetract from the account of the witness?

5.5 Crown Prosecutors should not ignoreevidence because they are not sure that itcan be used or is reliable. But they shouldlook closely at it when deciding if there is arealistic prospect of conviction.

The Public Interest Stage

5.6 In 1951, Lord Shawcross, who was AttorneyGeneral, made the classic statement onpublic interest, which has been supportedby Attorneys General ever since: “It hasnever been the rule in this country - I hopeit never will be - that suspected criminaloffences must automatically be the subjectof prosecution”. (House of CommonsDebates, volume 483, column 681, 29January 1951.)

5.7 The public interest must be considered ineach case where there is enough evidenceto provide a realistic prospect of conviction.Although there may be public interestfactors against prosecution in a particularcase, often the prosecution should goahead and those factors should be put tothe court for consideration when sentenceis being passed. A prosecution will usually

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take place unless there are public interestfactors tending against prosecution whichclearly outweigh those tending in favour, orit appears more appropriate in all thecircumstances of the case to divert theperson from prosecution (see section 8 below).

5.8 Crown Prosecutors must balance factorsfor and against prosecution carefully andfairly. Public interest factors that can affectthe decision to prosecute usually dependon the seriousness of the offence or thecircumstances of the suspect. Some factorsmay increase the need to prosecute butothers may suggest that another course ofaction would be better.

The following lists of some commonpublic interest factors, both for andagainst prosecution, are notexhaustive.The factors that apply willdepend on the facts in each case.

Some common public interestfactors in favour of Prosecution

5.9 The more serious the offence, the morelikely it is that a prosecution will be neededin the public interest. A prosecution is likelyto be needed if:

a a conviction is likely to result in a significantsentence;

b a conviction is likely to result in aconfiscation or any other order;

c a weapon was used or violence wasthreatened during the commission of the offence;

d the offence was committed against aperson serving the public (for example, apolice or prison officer,or a nurse);

e the defendant was in a position of authorityor trust;

f the evidence shows that the defendant wasa ringleader or an organiser of the offence;

g there is evidence that the offence waspremeditated;

h there is evidence that the offence wascarried out by a group;

i the victim of the offence was vulnerable,has been put in considerable fear, orsuffered personal attack, damage ordisturbance;

j the offence was committed in the presenceof, or in close proximity to, a child;

k the offence was motivated by any form ofdiscrimination against the victim’s ethnic ornational origin, disability, sex, religious beliefs,political views or sexual orientation, or thesuspect demonstrated hostility towards thevictim based on any of those characteristics;

l there is a marked difference between theactual or mental ages of the defendant andthe victim, or if there is any element ofcorruption;

m the defendant’s previous convictions orcautions are relevant to the presentoffence;

n the defendant is alleged to have committedthe offence while under an order of thecourt;

o there are grounds for believing that theoffence is likely to be continued orrepeated, for example, by a history ofrecurring conduct;

p the offence, although not serious in itself, iswidespread in the area where it wascommitted; or

q a prosecution would have a significantpositive impact on maintaining communityconfidence.


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Some common public interest factors againstprosecution

5.10 A prosecution is less likely to be needed if:

a the court is likely to impose a nominalpenalty;

b the defendant has already been made thesubject of a sentence and any furtherconviction would be unlikely to result in theimposition of an additional sentence ororder, unless the nature of the particularoffence requires a prosecution or thedefendant withdraws consent to have anoffence taken into consideration duringsentencing;

c the offence was committed as a result of agenuine mistake or misunderstanding (thesefactors must be balanced against theseriousness of the offence);

d the loss or harm can be described as minorand was the result of a single incident,particularly if it was caused by amisjudgement;

e there has been a long delay between theoffence taking place and the date of thetrial, unless:

• the offence is serious;• the delay has been caused in part by the

defendant;• the offence has only recently come to light;

or• the complexity of the offence has meant

that there has been a long investigation;

f a prosecution is likely to have a bad effecton the victim’s physical or mental health,always bearing in mind the seriousness ofthe offence;

g the defendant is elderly or is, or was at thetime of the offence, suffering fromsignificant mental or physical ill health,unless the offence is serious or there is realpossibility that it may be repeated.TheCrown Prosecution Service, where

necessary, applies Home Office guidelinesabout how to deal with mentallydisordered offenders. Crown Prosecutorsmust balance the desirability of diverting adefendant who is suffering from significantmental or physical ill health with the needto safeguard the general public;

h the defendant has put right the loss orharm that was caused (but defendants mustnot avoid prosecution or diversion solelybecause they pay compensation); or

i details may be made public that could harmsources of information, internationalrelations or national security.

5.11 Deciding on the public interest is not simplya matter of adding up the number offactors on each side. Crown Prosecutorsmust decide how important each factor isin the circumstances of each case and goon to make an overall assessment.

The relationship between the victim and the public interest

5.12 The Crown Prosecution Service does notact for victims or the families of victims inthe same way as solicitors act for theirclients. Crown Prosecutors act on behalf ofthe public and not just in the interests of any particular individual. However, whenconsidering the public interest, CrownProsecutors should always take intoaccount the consequences for the victim of whether or not to prosecute, and anyviews expressed by the victim or thevictim’s family.

5.13 It is important that a victim is told about adecision which makes a significant differenceto the case in which they are involved.Crown Prosecutors should ensure that theyfollow any agreed procedures.

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6 The Threshold Test

6.1 The Threshold Test requires CrownProsecutors to decide whether there is atleast a reasonable suspicion that thesuspect has committed an offence, and ifthere is, whether it is in the public interestto charge that suspect.

6.2 The Threshold Test is applied to those casesin which it would not be appropriate torelease a suspect on bail after charge, butthe evidence to apply the Full Code Test isnot yet available.

6.3 There are statutory limits that restrict thetime a suspect may remain in policecustody before a decision has to be madewhether to charge or release the suspect.There will be cases where the suspect incustody presents a substantial bail risk ifreleased, but much of the evidence may notbe available at the time the chargingdecision has to be made. CrownProsecutors will apply the Threshold Test tosuch cases for a limited period.

6.4 The evidential decision in each case willrequire consideration of a number offactors including:

• the evidence available at the time;• the likelihood and nature of further

evidence being obtained;• the reasonableness for believing that

evidence will become available;• the time it will take to gather that evidence

and the steps being taken to do so;• the impact the expected evidence will have

on the case;• the charges that the evidence will support.

6.5 The public interest means the same asunder the Full Code Test, but will be basedon the information available at the time ofcharge which will often be limited.

6.6 A decision to charge and withhold bailmust be kept under review.The evidencegathered must be regularly assessed toensure the charge is still appropriate andthat continued objection to bail is justified.The Full Code Test must be applied as soonas reasonably practicable.

7 Selection of Charges

7.1 Crown Prosecutors should select chargeswhich:

a reflect the seriousness and extent of theoffending;

b give the court adequate powers tosentence and impose appropriate post-conviction orders; and

c enable the case to be presented in a clearand simple way. This means that CrownProsecutors may not always choose orcontinue with the most serious chargewhere there is a choice.

7.2 Crown Prosecutors should never go aheadwith more charges than are necessary justto encourage a defendant to plead guilty toa few. In the same way, they should nevergo ahead with a more serious charge justto encourage a defendant to plead guilty toa less serious one.

7.3 Crown Prosecutors should not change thecharge simply because of the decision madeby the court or the defendant about wherethe case will be heard.

8 Diversion from Prosecution Adults

8.1 When deciding whether a case should beprosecuted in the courts, CrownProsecutors should consider thealternatives to prosecution.Whereappropriate, the availability of suitablerehabilitative, reparative or restorativejustice processes can be considered.


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8.2 Alternatives to prosecution for adultsuspects include a simple caution and aconditional caution.

Simple Caution

8.3 A simple caution should only be given if thepublic interest justifies it and in accordancewith Home Office guidelines. Where it isfelt that such a caution is appropriate,Crown Prosecutors must inform the policeso they can caution the suspect.If the caution is not administered, becausethe suspect refuses to accept it, a CrownProsecutor may review the case again.Conditional Caution

8.4 A conditional caution may be appropriatewhere a Crown Prosecutor considers thatwhile the public interest justifies aprosecution, the interests of the suspect,victim and community may be betterserved by the suspect complying withsuitable conditions aimed at rehabilitationor reparation. These may includerestorative processes.

8.5 Crown Prosecutors must be satisfied thatthere is sufficient evidence for a realisticprospect of conviction and that the publicinterest would justify a prosecution shouldthe offer of a conditional caution berefused or the offender fail to comply withthe agreed conditions of the caution.

8.6 In reaching their decision, CrownProsecutors should follow the ConditionalCautions Code of Practice and anyguidance on conditional cautioning issuedor approved by the Director of PublicProsecutions.

8.7 Where Crown Prosecutors consider aconditional caution to be appropriate, theymust inform the police, or other authorityresponsible for administering theconditional caution, as well as providing anindication of the appropriate conditions sothat the conditional caution can beadministered.

Youths

8.8 Crown Prosecutors must consider theinterests of a youth when deciding whetherit is in the public interest to prosecute.However Crown Prosecutors should notavoid prosecuting simply because of thedefendant’s age.The seriousness of theoffence or the youth’s past behaviour isvery important.

8.9 Cases involving youths are usually onlyreferred to the Crown Prosecution Servicefor prosecution if the youth has alreadyreceived a reprimand and final warning,unless the offence is so serious that neitherof these were appropriate or the youth does not admit committing the offence.Reprimands and final warnings are intendedto prevent re-offending and the fact that afurther offence has occurred indicates thatattempts to divert the youth from thecourt system have not been effective. Sothe public interest will usually require aprosecution in such cases, unless there areclear public interest factors againstprosecution.

9 Mode of Trial

9.1 The Crown Prosecution Service applies thecurrent guidelines for magistrates who haveto decide whether cases should be tried inthe Crown Court when the offence givesthe option and the defendant does notindicate a guilty plea. Crown Prosecutorsshould recommend Crown Court trialwhen they are satisfied that the guidelinesrequire them to do so.

9.2 Speed must never be the only reason forasking for a case to stay in the magistrates’courts. But Crown Prosecutors shouldconsider the effect of any likely delay if theysend a case to the Crown Court, and anypossible stress on victims and witnesses ifthe case is delayed.

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10 Accepting Guilty Pleas

10.1Defendants may want to plead guilty tosome, but not all, of the charges.Alternatively, they may want to plead guiltyto a different, possibly less serious, chargebecause they are admitting only part of thecrime. Crown Prosecutors should onlyaccept the defendant’s plea if they think thecourt is able to pass a sentence thatmatches the seriousness of the offending,particularly where there are aggravatingfeatures. Crown Prosecutors must neveraccept a guilty plea just because it isconvenient.

10.2 In considering whether the pleas offeredare acceptable, Crown Prosecutors shouldensure that the interests of the victim and,where possible, any views expressed by thevictim or victim’s family, are taken intoaccount when deciding whether it is in thepublic interest to accept the plea.However, the decision rests with theCrown Prosecutor.

10.3 It must be made clear to the court on whatbasis any plea is advanced and accepted. Incases where a defendant pleads guilty tothe charges but on the basis of facts thatare different from the prosecution case, andwhere this may significantly affect sentence,the court should be invited to hearevidence to determine what happened, andthen sentence on that basis.

10.4 Where a defendant has previously indicatedthat he or she will ask the court to take anoffence into consideration when sentencing,but then declines to admit that offence atcourt, Crown Prosecutors will considerwhether a prosecution is required for thatoffence. Crown Prosecutors should explainto the defence advocate and the court thatthe prosecution of that offence may besubject to further review.

10.5 Particular care must be taken whenconsidering pleas which would enable thedefendant to avoid the imposition of amandatory minimum sentence.When pleas are offered, Crown Prosecutors mustbear in mind the fact that ancillary orderscan be made with some offences but notwith others.

11 Prosecutors’ Role in Sentencing

11.1 Crown Prosecutors should draw thecourt’s attention to:

• any aggravating or mitigating factorsdisclosed by the prosecution case;

• any victim personal statement;• where appropriate, evidence of the impact

of the offending on a community;• any statutory provisions or sentencing

guidelines which may assist;• any relevant statutory provisions relating to

ancillary orders (such as anti-socialbehaviour orders).

11.2 The Crown Prosecutor should challengeany assertion made by the defence inmitigation that is inaccurate, misleading orderogatory. If the defence persist in theassertion, and it appears relevant to thesentence, the court should be invited tohear evidence to determine the facts and sentence accordingly.

12 Re-starting a Prosecution

12.1 People should be able to rely on decisionstaken by the Crown Prosecution Service.Normally, if the Crown Prosecution Servicetells a suspect or defendant that there willnot be a prosecution, or that theprosecution has been stopped, that is theend of the matter and the case will notstart again. But occasionally there arespecial reasons why the Crown ProsecutionService will re-start the prosecution,particularly if the case is serious.


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12.2 These reasons include:

a rare cases where a new look at the originaldecision shows that it was clearly wrongand should not be allowed to stand;

b cases which are stopped so that moreevidence which is likely to become availablein the fairly near future can be collectedand prepared. In these cases, the CrownProsecutor will tell the defendant that theprosecution may well start again; and

c cases which are stopped because of a lackof evidence but where more significantevidence is discovered later.

12.3 There may also be exceptional cases inwhich, following an acquittal of a seriousoffence, the Crown Prosecutor may, withthe written consent of the Director ofPublic Prosecutions, apply to the Court ofAppeal for an order quashing the acquittaland requiring the defendant to be retried,in accordance with Part 10 of the CriminalJustice Act 2003.

The Code is a public document.It is available on the CPS website:www.cps.gov.uk

Further copies may be obtained from:

CPS Communications Branch50 Ludgate HillLondon EC4M 7EXTel: 020 7796 8442Fax: 020 7796 8030E-mail: [email protected]

Translations into other languages andaudio or Braille copies are available.Contact CPS Communications Branchfor details. The CPS Public Enquiry Pointcan provide general information on theCPS and advice on who to contact.Theunit cannot give legal advice, but may be able to offer you practicalinformation.

CPS Public Enquiry Point:Tel: 020 7796 8500Phone calls may be recorded

E-mail for enquiries and comments:[email protected]

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STATUTORY POWERS OF NON-LEGALSTAFF CASEWORKERS DESIGNATEDUNDER SECTION 7A OF THEPROSECUTION OF OFFENCES ACT 1985

PRINCIPLE

1. The fundamental principle is thatDesignated Caseworkers will review andpresent magistrates’ court cases which arestraightforward and with no technical issuesor complications of fact or law.

2. The cases must be anticipated guilty pleasmeeting the criteria set out below, orinvolve minor road traffic offences whichwill be dealt with under the proof inabsence procedure.

3. The criteria are intended to operate withinthe context of arrangements between theService and the courts which will involvecases meeting the criteria being marshaledand listed together.

4. The supervising Crown Prosecutor willadhere to these principles when allocatingcases to the designated caseworker and, inaddition, will have regard to the following:

• the nature and surrounding circumstancesof the offence;

• the ability, training and experience of theCaseworker;

• any other matter which may have a bearingupon whether the case is suitable forreview or presentation by the Caseworker.

CRITERIA

5. Guilty pleas5.1 A Designated Caseworker who is suitably

trained and supervised by a CrownProsecutor may review and present cases inthe magistrates’ court where each of thefollowing applies:

• the offence before the court is summaryand/or triable either way, with the provisothat the either way offence must beconsidered suitable for summary disposal;

• the case involves only adult offenders;• the accused is on bail and there is no

objection to its continuance or the accusedhas been remanded in custody by the courtfollowing a guilty plea; and

• there is no significant dispute as to thefacts, and the offence is admitted ininterview with police; or

• a police officer has witnessed thecommission of the offence and the accusedhas given no indication that he intends toplead not guilty.

6. Road traffic offences - proof inabsence

6.1 A Designated Caseworker who is suitablytrained and supervised by a CrownProsecutor may also review and presentcases in the magistrates’ court where:

the offence is a road traffic offence whichcould be dealt with under section 12 MCA1980, but where there has been noresponse to the summons and the courtproceeds to hear the case in the absenceof the accused.

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7. EXCLUSIONS

7.1 A Designated Caseworker may not reviewor present a case in which any of thefollowing applies:

• the offence is indictable only;• there is likely to be a contested trial;• the accused has elected jury trial or the

magistrates’ court has declined jurisdiction;• the case is to be dealt with under the

transfer procedures;• the offence requires the consent of the

Director of Public Prosecutions or theAttorney General;

• the case may be considered sensitive e.g.fatal accident, child victim, racial incident,accused is a serving police officer etc;

• the facts are disputed leading to thepossibility of a “Newton” hearing or anorder under section 58(7) and 58(8)Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act1996 - derogatory mitigation;

• the offence is one which carries obligatorydisqualification and where notification hasbeen given in advance that evidence will becalled in support of “special reasons” as towhy the accused should not be disqualified.

GENERAL

8. Pre-court reviewDiscontinuance/withdrawal/substitution of a charge

8.1 Where a Caseworker wishes to discontinuea prosecution under section 23 of theProsecution of Offences Act 1985 orwithdraw/substitute a charge, the mattermust be referred to the supervising CrownProsecutor for a decision.

AT COURT

9. Adjourned hearings9.1 In general a Designated Caseworker may

not continue to present a case where anaccused enters or indicates a not guiltyplea. However, the Caseworker may dealwith issues arising upon the adjournmente.g. fixing the trial date etc.

10. Mode of trial representations

10.1Where a not guilty or no indication isentered at plea before venue to an eitherway offence, the Designated Caseworkermay retain conduct of the case where thecourt proceeds to consider mode of trial aspart of the same hearing.

11. Amendment/withdrawal of a charge

11.1 Where it becomes apparent during thehearing that a summons requires minoramendment, e.g. errors as to value, date,location, vehicle description etc, theCaseworker may apply to amend withoutreference to the supervising CrownProsecutor.

11.2 In road traffic offences involving theproduction of documents, where aCaseworker is satisfied that the substantivecharge is no longer sustainable, he maywithdraw the substantive charge withoutreference to a Crown Prosecutor andproceed on any alternative charges that arealso before the court.

11.3 In all other proceedings before the courtthe Caseworker may not discontinue aprosecution or withdraw/substitute acharge without the agreement of thesupervising Crown Prosecutor.

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D E S I G N AT E D C A S E W O R K E R S

THE EXTENDED REMIT OF CROWNPROSECUTION SERVICE DESIGNATEDCASEWORKERS

1. Designated Caseworkers (DCWs) are nowpermitted to undertake all work in themagistrates’ court other than:

• Trials.• Proofs in absence in either-way cases.• Committals and sendings.• Pre-trial reviews.• Newton Hearings.• Contested Bail Hearings.

The above exceptions take account of, and arein accordance with, section 7A Prosecution ofOffences Act 1985 as amended by section 53Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

2. In particular, DCWs may now deal with thefollowing areas of work:

• Early administrative hearings, including pleabefore venue.

• Presentation in court, but not review, incases where a youth is charged with anadult and a guilty plea is anticipated.

• All cases, including Youth Court cases, afterguilty plea where the court has ordered apre-sentence report.

• Proofs in absence in summary only cases inthe adult magistrates’ court except wherewitnesses have been warned to attendcourt to give live evidence, whether they infact give live evidence or not.

• Proofs in absence in the Youth Court inroad traffic cases only except where liveevidence is to be heard or where a reviewdecision is required before the proof inabsence.

• Totting-up cases where the defendant seeksto avoid disqualification on the grounds ofexceptional hardship.

• Applications for the removal of a drivingdisqualification.

• Upon implementation of section 31Criminal Justice Act 2003, applications forwarrants of first instance.

April 2004

D E S I G N AT E D C A S E W O R K E R S 53

A N N E X D

54

A N N E X E

C P S H Q O R G A N I S AT I O N A L C H A R T

ChiefExecutive

DPP

42 Area Chief CrownProsecutors and CPS

Direct 42 Area BusinessManagers and CPS

Direct

Policy Finance CaseworkHuman

Resources

Equalityand Diversity

BusinessDevelopment

BusinessInformation

Systems

ServiceCentres

CPS HQ

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 55

A N N E X E

56

A N N E X F

YO U R L O C A L C P S

1 Avon & Somerset

David Archer CCP

Sarah Trevelyan ABM

2 Bedfordshire

Richard Newcombe CCP

Timothy Riley ABM

3 Cambridgeshire

Richard Crowley CCP

Adrian Mardell ABM

4 Cheshire

Claire Blackburn-Lindley CCP

Angela Garbett ABM

5 London

Dru Sharpling CCP

Lesley Burton OD

Nazir Afzal SD (West)

Bob King SBM (West)

Wendy Williams SD (North)

Steve Pople SBM (North)

Simon Clements SD (South)

Clare Toogood SBM (South)

Rene Barclay DSC

Peter Stekelenburg SBMSC

6 Cleveland

Martin Goldman CCP

Margaret Phillips ABM

7 Cumbria

David Farmer CCP

John Pears ABM

8 Derbyshire

Brian Gunn CCP

Chris Mitchell ABM

9 Devon & Cornwall

Andrew Cresswell CCP

John Nettleton ABM

10 Dorset

John Revell CCP

Jason Putman ABM

11 Durham

Portia Ragnauth CCP

Karen Wright ABM

12 Dyfed-Powys

Simon Rowlands CCP

Jeff Thomas ABM

13 Essex

John Bell CCP

Susan Stovell ABM

14 Gloucestershire

Roger Coe-Salazar CCP

Will Hollins ABM

15 Greater Manchester

John Holt CCP

Kevin Fox ABM

16 Gwent

Madhu Rai CCP

Helen Phillips ABM

17 Hampshire & I.O.W

Nick Hawkins CCP

David Percy ABM

18 Hertfordshire

Charles Ingham CCP

Linda Fox ABM

19 Humberside

Nigel Cowgill CCP

Caron Skidmore ABM

20 Kent

Elizabeth Howe CCP

Ken Mitchell ABM

21 Lancashire

Robert Marshall CCP

Angela Walsh ABM

22 Leicestershire

Martin Howard CCP

Jane Robinson ABM

23 Lincoln

Alison Kerr CCP

Andrew Illingworth ABM

24 Merseyside

Paul Whittaker CCP

Deborah King ABM

25 London

See 5 for details

26 Norfolk

Peter Tidey CCP

Catherine Scholefield ABM

27 Northamptonshire

Grace Ononiwu CCP

Fiona Campbell ABM

28 Northumbria

Nicola Reasbeck CCP

Adele Clarke ABM

29 North Wales

Ed Beltrami CCP

Wray Ferguson ABM

30 North Yorkshire

Robert Turnbull CCP

Taryn Walker ABM

31 Nottinghamshire

Kate Carty CCP

Gail Pessol ABM

32 South Wales

Chris Woolley CCP

Edwina Sherwood ABM

33 South Yorkshire

Judith Walker CCP

Christopher Day ABM

34 Staffordshire

Harry Ireland CCP

Brian Laybourne ABM

35 Suffolk

Ken Caley CCP

Caroline Gilbert ABM

36 Surrey

Sandie Hebblethwaite CCP

Martyn Wray ABM

37 Sussex

Sarah Jane Gallagher CCP

Ian Everett ABM

38 Thames Valley

Baljit Ubhey CCP

Karen Sawitzki ABM

39 Warwickshire

Mark Lynn CCP

Ian Edmondson ABM

40 West Mercia

Jim England CCP

Laurence Sutton ABM

41 West Midlands

David Blundell CCP

Michael Grist ABM

42 West Yorkshire

Neil Franklin CCP

Jean Ashton ABM

43 Wiltshire

Karen Harrold CCP

Kim O’Neill ABM

CPS Direct

Barry Hughes CCP

Susan Barrand BM

KEY

CCP Chief Crown Prosecutor

ABM Area Business Manager

OD Operations Director

SD Sector Director

SBM Sector Business Manager

DSC Director Serious Casework

SBMSC Sector Business Manager SeriousCasework

BM Business Manager

C P S A R E A / P O L I C E F O R C E B O U N D A R Y M A P 57

A N N E X F

Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from:

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TA B L E S E N L A R G E D


• TABLESFROMPAGE 8

CLICK ONTABLE TORETURN TODOCUMENT

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5


• TABLESFROMPAGE 9




• TABLESFROMPAGES 36 - 37


Discontinuances (including bind overs)

Warrants etc

Discharges

Dismissals no case to answer

Dismissals after trial

Proofs in absence

Guilty pleas


Summary

Indictable/either way

Chart 1: Magistrates’ courts: caseload

Chart 3: Magistrates’ courts: case outcomes

Chart 2: Magistrates’ courts: types

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5


• TABLESFROMPAGES38 - 39


Magistrates’ directions

Defendants’ elections

Indictable only

Judge ordered aquittals

Warrants etc

Judge directed aquittals

Acquittals after trials

Guilty pleas


Chart 4: Magistrates’ courts: committals to the Crown Court

Chart 5: Crown Court caseload

Chart 6: Crown Court: source of com,mittals for trial

Chart 7: Crown Court: case outcomes

crown prosecution service - london criminal … a… · · 2009-10-08of section 9 of the...

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