A.C. 2.1 - Explain the requirements of the Crown Prosecutions Service (CPS)
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Course
Unit 3 - crime scene to courtroom
Institution
WJEC
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A.C. 2.1 – explain requirements of the CPS for prosecuting suspects
The Crime prosecution service, established in 1986, under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. States that the CPS
is to prosecute criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organization in
England and Wales. Prior to CPS, the Police investigated and also prosecuted crimes, which was problematic due to
the late workload and bias in many cases, such as the case of Damilola Taylor. In which the CPS failed to prosecute 4
youths, leading to seriously undermine the criminal justice system resulting in bias and favor of the
defendants. Because the police did not provide the required evidence they had collected to help the CPS with the
case. The jury was prevented from hearing potentially crucial evidence, including alleged "confessions" made by two
of the suspects, which probably resulted in them all being cleared. The main role of the CPS is to advice the police in
early stages of investigations and prepare as well as decide which cases will be prosecuted. They also determine the
appropriate charges, but do not give the sentence. That is the role of the court. the CPS also give support to victims
and prosecution witnesses. They try to deliver justice by working with the police, court, judiciary, and other
independent partners. The criminal justice Act 2003 amendment mainly granted higher power of prosecution to CPS,
allowing them to charge all but minor cases. It also altered the admissibility of bad character evidence in criminal
proceeding by S11 of the Act. And abolished the existing common law rules. The only qualification to the abolition of
the common law which for the purposes of bad character evidence, allows for proof of a person’s character by
calling of evidence to its reputation. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 also did not affect the theft Act 1968 which make
provision for proof of guilty knowledge on a charge of handling stolen good by proof of previous conviction of theft.
Full Code Test
Evidential test tries to see whether there is enough evidence to gain a ‘realistic prospect of conviction’ there is to see
what the defense could bring forward for their argument and how it is likely to affect the prosecution’s case. An
objective test is done, meaning that a jury or a bench of lay magistrates hearing a case alone is more likely than not
to find the defendant guilty. If this is true, then evidential test is made out. The CPS also must consider what
evidence they can use within court and if it is reliable. Including deciding whether witnesses are credible. If the case
fails this test the case will not proceed any further and there will be no prosecution, if the evidential stage passes it
moves onto the public interest stage:
Public interest stage is where CPS must decide if a case is of interest to the public. To help determine this. There is a
list of questions the CPS must ask themselves. Such as ‘how serious is the offence committed? Or ‘what is the level of
responsibility of the suspect. The more serious these are, the more likely there will be a prosecution. The CPS will
also consider the impact to the victim, as well as the offenders age, as if the offender is under 19 at the time of the
offence, the welfare of the child must be considered. Private individuals who do not act on behalf of the police or
any public prosecuting authority may bring a private prosecution in the criminal courts. This is outlined in S6(1) of
the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. Examples of such organizations are the RSPCA and the Federation Against
Copyright Theft. An example of a high-profile private prosecution was the case commenced against the Stephen
Lawrence murder suspects in 1994.
If these stages are passed the case will be forwarded to the court and be prosecuted. However if the case fails short
of the evidential stage and the full code test cant be applied, the CPS will try to use a threshold test, it can only be
applied where the suspect presents a substantial bail risk and not all the evidence is available at the time the suspect
is to be released.
Threshold test
Where a suspect who is in police custody presents a substantial bail risk if released, but not all of the evidence in the
case is yet available, a preliminary assessment of the evidence may be made under the Threshold Test. This allows
the police to charge the suspect and bring them before a court in custody without applying the Full Code Test. There
are strict criteria for applying the Threshold Test. All of the following conditions must be met: insufficient evidence is
currently available to apply the evidential stage of the Full Code Test, there are reasonable grounds to believe that
further evidence will become available within a reasonable period, the seriousness or circumstances of the case
justify making an immediate charging decision and, there are substantial grounds under the Bail Act 1976 to detain
the suspect in custody after charge and an application to withhold bail can properly be made at court by a
prosecutor. If any of these conditions are not met, the Threshold Test cannot be applied, or the suspect charged.
When considering the evidence under the Threshold Test, the decision maker must ask: Is there a reasonable
suspicion that the suspect has committed the offence? The evidence currently available must be relevant and
capable of being put into admissible format for presentation in court and would be used in the case. Can further
evidence be gathered to provide a realistic prospect of conviction? There must be reasonable grounds to believe that
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