Whether a decision on the indictment is made by the police or the prosecutor`s office, the CPS will lead the case, which includes preparing the case for court hearings, disclosing documents to the defense, and presenting the case to the court. The CPC will be represented in court from the first hearing to the conviction and, in some cases, to the appeal. The Nominating, Leadership and Compensation Committee (NLRC) is responsible for advising CPA`s Board of Directors on key elements of effectiveness related to corporate culture and leadership strategies, including ensuring that strong systems are in place to identify and develop leaders from different talent pools. create appropriate human resources and succession plans and challenge incentive structures. The members of the NLRC include the Director of the Public Prosecutor`s Office, the Director General and two non-executive members of the Board of Directors, with the Director of Personnel being a mandatory participant. The Committee meets four times a year. These guidelines help our prosecutors make decisions about cases. It is regularly updated to reflect changes in law and practice. The decision to calculate as part of the threshold test must be constantly reviewed. The prosecutor should be proactive in obtaining evidence or other outstanding documents from the police according to an agreed schedule. Evidence must be reviewed regularly to ensure that charges are still reasonable and that an ongoing bail appeal is warranted. The full code test must be applied as soon as the expected additional evidence or documents have been received, and in any case in Crown Court cases, usually before the official service of the prosecution`s evidence. [14] Historically, prosecutions have been conducted through a mosaic of different systems.
For serious crimes tried at the county level, justices of the peace or sheriff would make a presentation to a grand jury that would or would not return an “actual bill” leading to an indictment. When a real bill followed the bill, the person was tried by a small jury of judges from the King`s Bench, the Common Pleas or the Exchequer as they traveled the circuits to make the sittings. Individuals could be prosecuted on charges by prosecutors ranging from the Attorney General or Attorney General, the King`s Attorneys, Prosecutors mandated by the Sheriff or justice of the peace. It was more likely that the Attorney General or the Attorney General would be involved in prosecutions for serious crimes such as high treason at the Court of King`s Bench at Westminster Hall. The main tasks of the CPS are to provide legal advice to the police and other investigating authorities in criminal investigations, to decide whether a suspect should be prosecuted after an investigation, and to prosecute both in the District Courts and in the Crown Court. The Crown Prosecutors` Code requires prosecutors to answer two questions in the “Comprehensive Code Test”: Is there enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction? (in other words, is there enough evidence to offer a realistic prospect of conviction against any suspect on any charge)? The Code describes this, which means that an objective, impartial and reasonable jury, judge or judge who hears a case alone, conducts it properly and acts in accordance with the law is more likely to convict the defendant on the alleged charge than not. The second question that is asked is: Are prosecutions in the public interest necessary? [14] These questions should be answered in that order; If there is insufficient evidence, the public interest in prosecuting is irrelevant. In countries where the judge takes charge of the examination of witnesses, the prosecutor is limited to presenting evidence and providing a final summary. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the prosecutor plays an active role in the examination of witnesses.
In most countries, when a decision is challenged before a higher court, the prosecutor submits briefs and pleads for the state`s case. We have released our CPA Inclusion and Community Engagement Strategy 2020, which sets out our goal to build on a solid foundation and ensure that we continue to lead the way in promoting equity, equality, diversity and inclusion across the criminal justice system. Around 6,000 people work for the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales in various capacities. Almost half of our employees are lawyers who are responsible for deciding whether to prosecute and represent the Crown in many hearings. The others work to help prosecutors prepare cases for the courts or other professions, including operational delivery, finance, human resources, communications, and digital and technology services. Police forces have the power to charge suspects with less serious crimes, such as frequent bodily harm or low-value criminal damage. The CPS is responsible for making all other prosecution decisions – including for serious crimes such as murder and rape – and police cannot charge suspects for these offences without the permission of a Crown prosecutor (except in emergency situations where police may lay charges in certain circumstances without the authority of a prosecutor). [13] In some countries, including France, Japan and Germany, prosecutors are part of a career civil servant`s service.