The CPS (crown prosecution service) is the main public prosecutor within England and
Wales.Established in 1986 under the 1985 prosecution of offences act it removed the risk of
police bias as they formerly both investigated and prosecuted crimes.The guidelines the CPS
follow is outlined in the 2003 criminal justice act.While independent the CPS still works closely
with police, advising in investigation,determines appropriate charge and chooses whether to
prosecute this is done through a series of tests.This set of tests is known as the full code test
and it is made up of both the evidential test along with the public interest test.
The evidential test is a test that aims to judge whether or not a case has sufficient evidence for
a realistic prospect of conviction. There is 3 questions they pose of the evidence ; whether or
not the evidence is admissible in court,whether or not the evidence is reliable and whether the
evidence is credible, such as in the case of Colin Stagg where the evidence was deemed as
inadmissible due to police tricking him into a confession,in the event the evidential test fails the
case does not proceed.
The second part of the full code test is known as the public interest test, this test decides
whether or not it is in the public interest to continue to prosecute this case and is based on 7
factors, these being;the severity of the offence,the level of culpability of the suspect (the higher
the more likely they are to be convicted),what harm the victim has suffered,previous
convictions,was the suspect under 18 (in cases where the suspect is under 18 they are less
likely to be convicted),impact on the community as a whole and weather or not prosecution is a
proportionate response. Some of these factors such as the suspects age could make the CPS
less likely to prosecute however in very severe cases such as the murder of Jamie Bulger the
age of the suspects has less of an affect as although they were only 10 at the time the way in
which the crime was committed was too bad not to prosecute.
A third test is known as the Threshold test, in some cases a suspect may be charged despite
the full code test not being met, in these cases they perform the threshold test allowing an
immediate decision despite all the evidence not being available.This can only be presented
where the suspect presents a substantial bail risk and is made up of 5 conditions which all must
be met before the charging of a suspect,these are ;is there reasonable suspicion of the offence
being committed by the suspect,is it believed the investigation will provide further evidence in a
reasonable period of time,the crime is serious enough to charge the suspect
immediately,substantial grounds to object bail e.g a suspect who is likely to interfere with
witnesses and it also must be within the public's interest to charge a suspect.In the event all of
these are met a suspect will be charged and awaiting further evidence for confirmation such as
in the case of Wayne Couzens and his killing of Sarah Everard as he was too dangerous to be
granted bail.
Wales.Established in 1986 under the 1985 prosecution of offences act it removed the risk of
police bias as they formerly both investigated and prosecuted crimes.The guidelines the CPS
follow is outlined in the 2003 criminal justice act.While independent the CPS still works closely
with police, advising in investigation,determines appropriate charge and chooses whether to
prosecute this is done through a series of tests.This set of tests is known as the full code test
and it is made up of both the evidential test along with the public interest test.
The evidential test is a test that aims to judge whether or not a case has sufficient evidence for
a realistic prospect of conviction. There is 3 questions they pose of the evidence ; whether or
not the evidence is admissible in court,whether or not the evidence is reliable and whether the
evidence is credible, such as in the case of Colin Stagg where the evidence was deemed as
inadmissible due to police tricking him into a confession,in the event the evidential test fails the
case does not proceed.
The second part of the full code test is known as the public interest test, this test decides
whether or not it is in the public interest to continue to prosecute this case and is based on 7
factors, these being;the severity of the offence,the level of culpability of the suspect (the higher
the more likely they are to be convicted),what harm the victim has suffered,previous
convictions,was the suspect under 18 (in cases where the suspect is under 18 they are less
likely to be convicted),impact on the community as a whole and weather or not prosecution is a
proportionate response. Some of these factors such as the suspects age could make the CPS
less likely to prosecute however in very severe cases such as the murder of Jamie Bulger the
age of the suspects has less of an affect as although they were only 10 at the time the way in
which the crime was committed was too bad not to prosecute.
A third test is known as the Threshold test, in some cases a suspect may be charged despite
the full code test not being met, in these cases they perform the threshold test allowing an
immediate decision despite all the evidence not being available.This can only be presented
where the suspect presents a substantial bail risk and is made up of 5 conditions which all must
be met before the charging of a suspect,these are ;is there reasonable suspicion of the offence
being committed by the suspect,is it believed the investigation will provide further evidence in a
reasonable period of time,the crime is serious enough to charge the suspect
immediately,substantial grounds to object bail e.g a suspect who is likely to interfere with
witnesses and it also must be within the public's interest to charge a suspect.In the event all of
these are met a suspect will be charged and awaiting further evidence for confirmation such as
in the case of Wayne Couzens and his killing of Sarah Everard as he was too dangerous to be
granted bail.
