Explain and Evaluate the Role of the CPS in achieving Social Control - AC3.1-3.4 Flashcards
Who founded the Met Police and when?
Robert Peel in 1829
Whats one example of a standard behaviour from the police in the code of ethics?
Honest and integrity
How many regional police forces are there in the UK?
39
What was the name of the police officer who killed Sarah Everard?
Wayne Cousinz
What percentage of cases resulted in someone being charged with an offence in 2020?
7%
What year was the CPS set up?
1986
What was the name of the Act which set up the CPS?
Prosecution of offences Act (1985)
Why was the CPS introduced?
To have an independent agent from the police, which prevents bias.
What was the name of the Act that sets out the main roles of the CPS?
Criminal Justice Act (2003)
What are the main roles of the CPS?
Choose which cases to prosecute, aiding the police, provides a full code test to ensure prosecution is fair.
Prepares prosecution cases to present in court, assist, inform and support victims/prosecution witnesses.
How many cases are prosecuted in a 3 month period in both magistrates and crown courts?
Magistrates Court - 450,000
Crown Court - 80,000
What percentage of offenders that are prosecuted are convicted?
80%
What did The Guardian report in 2018?
Reported that the CPS’s specialist rape prosecutors had been advised to drop a number of supposedly ‘weak’ cases.
What message could The Guardians article give to potential offenders?
That they can get away with rape crimes as there is a high chance that they won’t get prosecuted, costs aren’t perceived as bad.
What has happened to sexual violence and attacks in the UK since 2013/14?
It has more than doubled.
What are the values that underpin the CPS’ work?
Independence and fairness
Honesty and openness
Treating everyone with respect
Behaving professionally and striving for excellence
Equality and inclusion
Why is it important that the CPS act independently and fairly?
Ensures that they prosecute without any bias - because they act independently from the police and media it makes their verdict more objective.
Why is it important that the CPS have a diverse workforce?
Ensures that everyone is treated fairly, no racial bias due to multi ethnic CPS system
Not one single ethnicity is running everything - reflects on wider society and the population
Why is it important that the CPS is honest and open?
They can be honest if they make a mistake, sets clear standards for the police about how they can operate. Discloses all evidence, even if it may weaken a case.
How many regional area teams does the CPS have?
19
How does the working practices of the CPS help them in enforcing social control?
They can enforce social control over all areas and offences, as well as a large national reach for every crime.
What is part of the full code test?
Evidential Test
Public Interest Test
Threshold Test
What is the evidential stage?
Makes sure that prosecutors have enough evidence for a realistic prospect for convicting someone.
Ensures evidence is:
Admissible
Reliable
Credible
If evidence does not meet this criteria then it fails this stage.
What is the public interest stage?
Questions to ensure that the prosecution is in the public’s interest
What are some of the questions in the public interest stage?
How serious is the offence?
What is the suspect’s level of culpability?
What harm has the victim suffered?
What is the suspects age and maturity?
What is the impact of the offence on the community?
Is prosecution a proportionate response to the offence?
Does information sources need protecting?
What is the threshold test?
If the evidential stage fails for immediate prosecution, a suspect can still be charged under some other circumstances such as:
There are reasonable grounds to believe guilt and that further evidence can be found.
If the offence is serious enough to justify immediate charging and if it’s too risky to bail.
How does the full code test enforce social control?
Ensures that everyone is being treated fairly and that appropriate sentences are being handed to the correct offender to decrease miscarriages of justice.
If the conviction is in the public’s interest they will get support from the public.
What are some cases that should not have passed the full code test and why? How does it affect social control?
Damilola Taylor - There was no forensic evidence and the only star witness was a 6 yr old girl, lack credibility and reliability.
Social control - Took 6 yrs to get a conviction for 2 killers, they’re not doing enough.
Liam Allen - Failure to disclose text msgs that would have cleared him, CPS have to disclose all evidence.
Social control - Were about to send an innocent man to prison, should’ve controlled the behaviour of the girlfriend.
Whats the budget for the CPS from the government?
Half a billion pounds per year.
What percentage of the budget for the CPS goes to paying staff?
55%
What happened in 2018 in the CPS?
Suffered sufficient funding cuts, the budget had fallen by 25%
Why cant the CPS sustain any further funding cuts?
Digital technology is imposing heavy additional workloads on its staff, in one case took 600 hours to analyse the content on one phone.
What happened in the case with Josh Jones?
Josh got assaulted on a night out leading to multiple fractures in the skull and face reconstruction surgery.
Two different dates set for trial had been adjourned and then his case got dropped - turned into a floating case.
What does a floating trial mean?
More trials are being listed compared to courtrooms
How many cases are waiting to be heard in both magistrates and crown court?
Magistrates Court - 500,000
Crown Court - 41,000
Why do dropped cases challenge the idea that the CPS are effective in enforcing social control?
Cases aren’t being heard so they’re not getting justice
Offenders are able to walk free in society potentially re-offending.
