CPS & Bail

Crown Prosecution Service

  • Established under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 as the independent national prosecuting authority for England & Wales

  • Prior to the act cases had to be brought by the police

~ Pressure group Justice 1970 - criticised this system arguing it didn’t serve the interests of justice to have the same people both investigating crime & deciding whether to prosecute or not. The police were more concerned with winning cases rather than finding out the truth, they are too involved to be objective

e.g. Birmingham 6

Structure

  • Led by the Director of Public Prosecutions who reports to the Attorney General

  1. Attorney General

  2. DPP

  3. Chief crown prosecutor

  4. Branch crown prosecutors

  5. Lawyers & support staff

Role

  • Advise the police on cases for possible prosecution

  • Review cases submitted by the police

  • Prepare cases for court

  • Present cases in court

  • Decide whether to charge & what charge should be brought

~ Full code test:

  1. Is there realistic prospect of conviction - sufficient & adequate evidence

  2. Is it in the publics interest to prosecute - the more serious a case is the more likely it is to be brought to court

~ Threshold test - used when evidence doesn’t meet the standard for the full code test:

. Evidence available must be relevant & admissible

. Suspect is a bail risk

. In the public interest

. Serious enough to justify charging the suspect immediately

  • The CPS can:

  1. Proceed with a prosecution

  2. Send the file back to police for caution

  3. Take no further action


Bail

Any person arrested for/accused of an offence should be released under a duty to attend court or the police station at any specific time

- s4 Bail Act 1976 - presumption that D should receive bail because they are innocent until proven guilty & where there is no realistic prospect of imprisonment if convicted

  • Exceptions:

. Substantial grounds for believing D would, fail to surrender to bail, commit another offence, obstruct justice

  • Factors taken into account when assessing risks:

. Seriousness of the offence

. Likely sentence

. D’s character

. Community ties

  • Restrictions:

. Charges of murder/manslaughter/rape - will only be granted in exceptional circumstances

. Accused needs to be kept in custody for their own protection

. Already in prison for another offence

. More time is needed to find out whether they should be given bail

  • Conditions:

  1. Surrender passport

  2. Obtain legal advise

  3. Report to police station

  4. Given a security

  • Both the police (under Criminal Justice Act 2003) & the courts can grant bail

  • Issues

~ Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced a presumption against bail if a person is charged with an imprisonable offence if they test positive for class A drugs & refuse treatment, which goes against A5 of the ECHR

~ Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994 banned bail for those charged with murder/manslaughter/rape, breaches human rights set out in the ECHR

(amended by the Crime & disorder Act 1998, now granted in exceptional circumstances)