A recent report by government inspectors has made a number of criticisms of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Crown Prosecution Service
The CPS is the organisation responsible for the overwhelming majority of prosecutions in Magistrates Courts and Crown Courts in England and Wales. The CPS Inspectorate have highlighted a lack of progress made following a comprehensive review in 2009.
Criticism
The report recognises that the CPS have saved a significant amount of money by making greater use of their own lawyers at court in recent years. However, it is suggested that whilst these savings have been achieved there are concerns about the quality of advocacy.
In particular CPS lawyers are said on occasions to be under prepared often as a result of receiving details of cases late. Other areas identified include a failure to challenge inadmissible evidence, an over reliance on case notes and problems with progressing cases.
Keir Starmer, the head of the CPS, has said that the organisation will “rise to the challenges” set out in the report.
