Role of the Crown Prosecution Service in the English Criminal Trial Process - Essay Example

The paper critcally evaluates the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the role that CPS plays. Also, reforms and recommendations are offeredregarding the role of CPS. Introduction The time is changed for the English criminal trials. The methods of criminal trials have changed today compared to what it was during the time frame of late 17th to early 20th century. The trials were quick; lawyers were rarely present and even the judges, jurors and prosecutors used to exercise considerable discretion on their interpretation about the law. The changes in the criminal justice systems and procedures started during the 18th century and the most significant changes were witnessed during the 1820s. There were many reforms made during the 19th century that improved the condition for defense, however, there were severe disadvantages for the defendants1. Although the contemporaries thought that the procedures of trial may offer reasonable means for determining guilt and innocence; in the modern point of view they were not very advantageous for the defense side. Continuous transformation was evident in the trial procedures in statute, judicial discretion and rulings. During the early 19th century the transformation process took a great pace. The credit goes to Robert Peel who initiated the flurry of activities when he became the Secretary of Home Affairs in 1822. One of his significant contributions to the justice system was consolidation and simplification of statute law along with consolidation of procedures for selecting the jurymen. Robert Peel also extended the provision of expenses for witnesses and prosecutors and also gave power to the magistrates for granting bail to the accused. The reforms made by him were also continued by the Whig government that came and pass the Great Reform Act. The most notable thing among Whig’s legal reforms was Prisoners’ Counsel Act in 1836. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) can be explained as the principal public prosecuting authority in England and Wales. It is accountable and responsible for conducting the vast majority of prosecutions that are related to criminal offences within the jurisdiction. It is a non-ministerial department or body of the United Kingdom government that is headed by the Director of Public Prosecution or DPP2. This non-ministerial depart was formed in 1986 and the headquarters of the body is located in London, England. The main responsibilities of CPS include, but are not limited to, providing necessary legal advice to the enforcement officers, police and other investigative agencies during the course of criminal investigations, to decide upon the whether the suspect should face criminal charges following the investigation and also to conduct the prosecutions both in the court of magistrate and Crown Court. It is the responsibility of the Attorney General for England and Wales who supervises the work of CPS and also answers the same in the Parliament. However, the Attorney does not have any influence over the conduct or prosecution except when there is an issue of national security or there are small numbers of offences that need the permission of the Attorney in order to prosecute. In order to provide insight on the importance of CPS it is worth mentioning that this non-ministerial body undertook more than 800,000 prosecutions during the year 2012-13. Among these approximately 700,000 were in the magistrate’s court and about 100,000 in the Crown Court with a conviction rate of 86% and 80% in the magistrate’s court and Crown Court, respectively. According to the Spending Review conducted by HM Treasury in 2010 that was revised in 2013 it is seen that the department has reduced its budget by 30% during the year 2010 to 2014, which resulted in restructure of the organization and also a large number of voluntary redundancies. The implementation of measures like Core Quality Standards by CPS raised the bar of maintaining the standards3. Role and responsibilities of CPS The CPS plays an important role in the UK justice system of criminal offense. There are four functions that the CPS is taking care and independently act in the criminal cases investigation by the police and others are as follows4: 1. It decides upon which case need prosecution and keep them under continuous review5. 2. It determines the most appropriate charges in the cases that are more serious and complex and advising police during the early stages of investigation. 3. It plays a role in preparation and presentation of cases in the court for which they uses a range of in-house and self-employed advocates along with the agents in the court. 4. It also has the duty to provide assistance to the victim and prosecution witnesses. In more elaborate way the roles and responsibilities of CPS can be critically evaluated as follows: 1. Pre-charge advice The CPS plays a role of advisor to the investigators on the viability of a prosecution generally in unusual and complex cases. This is a confidential advice and concerns several matters that include clarifying the intent of committing the offence or even addressing the shortcomings in the evidences that are available6. The CPS does not have the power or rights to direct the investigators or order for an investigation, which is unlike many other jurisdictions. This is one of the drawbacks that draw criticism regarding the role of CPS in the UK law. Since the seeking of advice from the CPS or a charging decision completely lies with the investigators the CPS does not have the right to go ahead to take part in the investigation. This makes the body somewhat weaker in the justice system. This part calls for a reform7. If the reform can be done in this part it can give more power to the CPS system and also help the investigators to complete their investigation in more efficient manner and also in less time as there is one more mind working in the background. 2. Charging decisions The majority of charging decision authority lies with the investigators and the police department for the low profile crimes like common assault or criminal damage that has low value. The CPS comes into picture when the charging decision is required for highly serious offences like rape or murder. The police department does not have any right to make charging decision towards the suspect/s unless they have authorization from a Crown Prosecutor8. When the CPS is taking a charging decision it is required to apply the Code of Crown Prosecutors. There are two questions that the prosecutors need to answer and the procedure is called as Full Code Test. Those two questions are: A. Are there sufficient numbers of evidence for the realistic prospect of conviction? B. Is the prosecution required in the ground of public interest? The answer to the question needs to be done in the order that if there is sufficient evidence then the question of public interest is completely irrelevant. 3. Conducting prosecutions Irrespective of the decision of charging taken by the prosecutor or police the CPS will conduct the case, which is the primary role of this non-ministerial body9. The procedure includes several stages like preparation for court hearings, disclosure of materials to the defense and presenting the case in court. It is the duty of CPS to be represented in the court throughout the proceedings starting from the first hearing till the conviction or sentencing and in some cases for the appeal as well. It is duty of CPS to review all cases and ensure that all of them satisfy the Full Code Test otherwise they should be stopped. Mishandling of a case like failing to disclose the evidences can result in either acquitting defendant or quashing the conviction on appeal. 4. Appeals The CPS has every right and it is their responsibility to decide on whether or not to oppose an appeal made by the defendant. The decision by the CPS is expected to be made on the grounds of appeal. If CPS decides to oppose the appeal it is their responsibility to assist the appellate court to reach a fully informed decision by presenting relevant materials and evidences. The exception is CPS inviting defendants to appeal when it concludes that the safety of their conviction is questionable. This particular instance can be cited in the cases that involved undercover police officer Mark Kennedy. 5. Extradition After the implementation of the Extradition Act 2003, the CPS is given the power to represent the foreign states in extradition proceedings that are normally heard in Westminster Magistrate’s Court10. Though the activities of CPS are based upon the instructions of the foreign prosecutors, CPS has the final say on how the case should be conducted. It is job of the Extradition Unit of CPS to deal with all the cases of extradition of a person within England and Wales is sought by another state. The non-ministerial body is also responsible for the cases that in which CPS is seeking extradition of an individual who is outside the European Union. Their own extradition requests are prepared and managed by the CPS under the European Arrest Warrant framework. Conclusion The Crown Prosecution Service is a major player in the overall UK judicial system. The non-ministerial body has a big role to play in the overall judicial system of England and Wales. Though there are questions about the role of the body and making its responsibilities more robust and full-proof the current responsibilities are nothing less 11. Their rights and power enable them to be a strong pillar in the judicial system of the country. However, reform in certain roles of CPS like the pre-charge advice can make the body more powerful and their expertise can be of great use in the primary investigation of the crime. Making them more powerful in the decision making and in primary investigation processes will surely help the English law more powerful compared to what it is in the current scenario. However, whether to reform the current responsibilities or not the CPS has a big and important role to play in the judiciary system of England and Wales and it is believed to remain the same irrespective of the time to come. References Crown Prosecution Service UK, (2014), Avaialbale at http://www.cps.gov.uk/about/index.html Finnis, J., 2011. Natural law and natural rights. Oxford University Press. Find Law UK (2014).The Crown Prosecution Service, Available at http://www.findlaw.co.uk/law/criminal/other_crime_and_justice_topics/500493.html Hanna, M., & Dodd, M. (Eds.)., 2012. McNaes Essential Law for Journalists (Vol. 3). Oxford University Press. Herman, D., 2011. An unfortunate coincidence: Jews, Jewishness, and English law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ingman, T., 2010. The English legal process. Oxford University Press. Law Society UK, (2012) Dare v Crown Prosecution Service, Available at http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/articles/case-summaries/dare-v-crown-prosecution-service/ Newburn, T. (Ed.)., 2012. Handbook of policing. Routledge. Policy Exchange UK, (2013) In the Public Interest: Reforming the Crown Prosecution Service. Policy Exchange. Available at Slapper, G., & Kelly, D., 2013. The English Legal System: 2012-2013. Routledge. Ward, R., Wragg, A., & Akhtar, A., 2011. Walker & Walkers English legal system. Oxford University Press. Read More