Criminology- AC.2.1 Explain the requirements of the crown prosecution service for
the prosecution of suspects (4 marks)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principle public agency for conducting criminal
convictions in England and Wales, to prevent bias of the police as they prosecuted, and was
set up in 1986 under the Prosecution of Offences Act. The CPS is independent but works
closely with the police, courts, judiciary and other partners to deliver justice. Its role consists
of mainly prosecute all serious/complex cases (however it doesn’t give a sentence), as the
police can prosecute very minor offences, due to the criminal justice act 2003. They advise
the police in their investigations, about lines of inquiry, and tell the police whether or not the
evidence is solid enough to build a case, after the police have took it to the CPS. The CPS
assesses evidence submitted by the police, if it decides to prosecute it also decides what
charges should be brought, and prepares and presents this evidence in court. It also
provides information, assistance and support to victims and prosecution witnesses. The CPS
however have to follow a code of conduct, which are tests that have to be followed to decide
whether to prosecute or not. This code includes: The Full Code Test and The Threshold
Test.
The Full Code Test
The full code test is made up of: The evidential test and The Public Interest Test, and
prosecutors must only start of continue a prosecution when the case has passed both stages
of this Full Code Test. The full Code Test should be applied when all outstanding reasonable
lines of enquiry have been pursued; or prior to the investigation being completed, if the
prosecutor is satisfied that any further evidence or material is unlikely to affect the
application of the Full Code Test, whether in favour of or against a prosecution.
The Evidential test tries to see whether there is enough evidence to gain a ‘realistic prospect
of conviction’. This is to see what the defence could bring forward for their argument and
how it is likely to affect the prosecution’s case. They must decide that the evidence would be
more likely than not be enough for an objective, impartial and reasonable jury, magistrate or
judge to find the defendant guilty. To decide whether there is a ‘realistic prospect of
conviction’ the prosecutor must do an objective assessment of evidence. Which includes
asking themselves: Whether the evidence is admissible in court. Where they must assess
whether the evidence is likely to be rejected as inadmissible by the court. Whether the
evidence is reliable. Where they must decide if there’re any reasons to question the reliability
of the evidence (including its integrity/accuracy). And Whether the evidence is credible.
Where they have decided whether a ‘reasonable person’ believe it to be true, this includes
the credibility of witnesses. If the case fails this test, it won’t proceed any further and there
will be no prosecution, if it does pass this test it will continue into the next test.
The next test is The Public Interest Test, where the CPS has to decide whether the case is
of interest to the public. To help them there is a list of questions the CPS must ask
themselves. Such as ‘How serious was the offence?’; ‘What is the suspect’s level of
culpability?’, it is determined by: the suspects level of involvement, whether the offending
was predetermined, how beneficial it was to the suspect, whether the suspect has any
previous convictions or are likely to re-offend, and whether a compelled/exploited suspect
have a lower level of culpability; ‘What harm the victim came to?’; ‘The suspects age and
maturity’, when suspects are under 18 they are less likely to be prosecuted in order to keep
young people out of the criminal justice system; ‘What is the impact of the offending on the
community?’; ‘Is prosecution a proportionate response?’; and ‘Do sources of information
require protecting?’.
the prosecution of suspects (4 marks)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principle public agency for conducting criminal
convictions in England and Wales, to prevent bias of the police as they prosecuted, and was
set up in 1986 under the Prosecution of Offences Act. The CPS is independent but works
closely with the police, courts, judiciary and other partners to deliver justice. Its role consists
of mainly prosecute all serious/complex cases (however it doesn’t give a sentence), as the
police can prosecute very minor offences, due to the criminal justice act 2003. They advise
the police in their investigations, about lines of inquiry, and tell the police whether or not the
evidence is solid enough to build a case, after the police have took it to the CPS. The CPS
assesses evidence submitted by the police, if it decides to prosecute it also decides what
charges should be brought, and prepares and presents this evidence in court. It also
provides information, assistance and support to victims and prosecution witnesses. The CPS
however have to follow a code of conduct, which are tests that have to be followed to decide
whether to prosecute or not. This code includes: The Full Code Test and The Threshold
Test.
The Full Code Test
The full code test is made up of: The evidential test and The Public Interest Test, and
prosecutors must only start of continue a prosecution when the case has passed both stages
of this Full Code Test. The full Code Test should be applied when all outstanding reasonable
lines of enquiry have been pursued; or prior to the investigation being completed, if the
prosecutor is satisfied that any further evidence or material is unlikely to affect the
application of the Full Code Test, whether in favour of or against a prosecution.
The Evidential test tries to see whether there is enough evidence to gain a ‘realistic prospect
of conviction’. This is to see what the defence could bring forward for their argument and
how it is likely to affect the prosecution’s case. They must decide that the evidence would be
more likely than not be enough for an objective, impartial and reasonable jury, magistrate or
judge to find the defendant guilty. To decide whether there is a ‘realistic prospect of
conviction’ the prosecutor must do an objective assessment of evidence. Which includes
asking themselves: Whether the evidence is admissible in court. Where they must assess
whether the evidence is likely to be rejected as inadmissible by the court. Whether the
evidence is reliable. Where they must decide if there’re any reasons to question the reliability
of the evidence (including its integrity/accuracy). And Whether the evidence is credible.
Where they have decided whether a ‘reasonable person’ believe it to be true, this includes
the credibility of witnesses. If the case fails this test, it won’t proceed any further and there
will be no prosecution, if it does pass this test it will continue into the next test.
The next test is The Public Interest Test, where the CPS has to decide whether the case is
of interest to the public. To help them there is a list of questions the CPS must ask
themselves. Such as ‘How serious was the offence?’; ‘What is the suspect’s level of
culpability?’, it is determined by: the suspects level of involvement, whether the offending
was predetermined, how beneficial it was to the suspect, whether the suspect has any
previous convictions or are likely to re-offend, and whether a compelled/exploited suspect
have a lower level of culpability; ‘What harm the victim came to?’; ‘The suspects age and
maturity’, when suspects are under 18 they are less likely to be prosecuted in order to keep
young people out of the criminal justice system; ‘What is the impact of the offending on the
community?’; ‘Is prosecution a proportionate response?’; and ‘Do sources of information
require protecting?’.
