Criminal Process

Question 1

CP

Answer 1

A criminal conviction and sentence are the outcome of a long and complex sequence of decisions.

The main elements of criminal justice – the police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and the courts – are part of the public sector, financed predominantly by public revenue.

Question 2

Police Action

Answer 2

Victims or witnesses may or may not decide to inform the police, and in only a proportion of cases resulting in a criminal conviction will be smaller still.

When an offender admits guilt and the police do not wish to proceed to court, the individual concerned may be given a formal caution by the police.

Proceeding to a court appearance, however, requires that the person is charged.
This process usually involves obtaining a statement in interview with the suspected offender.

Question 3

Prosecution

Answer 3

The decision to proceed with prosecution is the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service, and guidelines for their decisions are laid down in the Code for Crown Prosecutors issued under Section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (House of Commons, 1991).

In their decision-making, Crown Prosecutors have to evaluate whether the evidence is sufficient, and in doing so they should have regard to whether the requirements of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and its codes of practice have been met.
Secondly, having considered whether the evidence is sufficient the Crown Prosecutor should then decide whether a prosecution is required in the public interest.

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In particular, have the individuals in police custody been properly treated and are there doubts about the reliability of any confessions or other statements made by the accused, bearing in mind his/her intelligence and apparent understanding? The Code for Crown Prosecutors also suggests that they may consider whether the accused has any mental disability which may affect his credibility, and whether the public would consider it oppressive to proceed against the accused.

Question 4

Court Proceedings

Answer 4

After being charged, a defendant’s first court appearance will be at the magistrates’ court.

Cases are then usually remanded for trial, and the defendant may be remanded on bail or in custody.

A remand on bail would be the normal course of events, and remands in custody require substantial grounds for believing that the defendant, if released, would commit further offences, abscond or interfere with witnesses. Remands on bail for very grave offences are unusual.

Defendant with limited financial means can have legal representation paid for by Legal Aid.

Question 5

The structure of the English criminal process

Answer 5

Anyone who thinks a crime may have been committed may report this to a law enforcement body.

The police may seek to find evidence of guilt through the use of powers such as stop and search, arrest, detention and interrogation and a variety of other non-interrogative means including electronic surveillance.

Enforcement bodies are not obliged to prosecute even if they have overwhelming evidence of guilt. If the police do wish to prosecute, they pass the case on to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS decides whether to take matters further, and – if so – will prosecute, sometimes hiring specialist lawyers (barristers) for very serious cases.

All prosecuted cases start in the lowest (margistrates’) courts – or, where the defendant is 18 or under, the youth courts.
In this lowest tier of the criminal courts, most cases are decided by a bench of three lay magistrates supported by a legal adviser, though increasingly professional judges decide cases alone.

Very serious cases are quickly transferred out of the magistrates’ and youth courts to the Crown Court.
Here proceedings are more formal, and there is a professional judge (and, in contested cases, a jury).

People who are convicted of crimes may appeal to a higher court: from the magistrates,/ youth courts to the Crown Court (where a completely new hearing of the matter takes place) and/or the Court of Appeal; and form the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal.

Convictions can be ‘quashed’ by the Court of Appeal if a defendant is found to have been denied a fair trial, as in cases where the police fail to disclose evidence that undermined the prosecution case.