Lecture 6- Prosecution and Plea Bargaining Flashcards
What are the key readings?
Campbell et al, Brown et al, The Code for Crown Prosecutors,
What are the key points from Campbell et al?
The process is about protecting the innocent
Victims of the offence would have to be behind the decision to prosecute
There are economic reasons for not prosecuting
There are issues with evidential sufficiency in practice as the test should be varied
Mental illness should be a factor
There are issues with withdrawing statement due to threats from the abuser
What is the John Report?
A report that focused on possible racial bias in decisions to prosecute
What does paragraph 6.4 of the 2004 code of prosecutors consider?
Evidence available at the time
Likelihood and nature of further evidence being obtained
Reasonableness for believing that evidence will become available
Time to gather evidence
Impact of the evidence
Charges the evidence will support
What does Baldwin say?
Prosecutors share a common value with the police that serious cases should be prosecuted irrespective of considerations of evidence
What are the key points from Brown et al?
Criticisms of plea bargaining to be abolished
Plea bargaining reduced the risk that the defendant walks free
Lower class people are more likely to take the plea bargain due to leniency
Plea bargaining produced fewer errors in the form of acquittals and more in the form of false convictions
What is plea bargaining due to?
Rationality- cutting cost and time
Bureaucracy to make a functional system
Complexity- the complex trial process
What is culpability determined by?
‘suspect’s level of involvement’
‘the extent to which the offending wad premediated and/or planned’
‘the extent to which the suspect has benefitted from criminal conduct’
‘whether the suspect has previous criminal convictions and/or out-of-court disposals and any offending whilst on bail or whilst subject to a court order;’
‘whether the offending was or is likely to be continued, repeated or escalated;’, ‘the suspect’s age and maturity’
If ‘the suspect is under 18 or lacks maturity’, then prosecution will be due to ‘public interest’
What are the conditions of the threshold test?
If there is reasonable grounds to suspect
If further evidence can be obtained
The seriousness of the case and if it justifies the making of a decision
If it is in public interest
What are the main roles in the Code for Crown Prosecutors?
They cannot be swayed by political matters or succumb to pressure from other sources
Ensuring correct appliance of the law
Ensuring human rights are met
Making assessment about charging for the court to understand
To make sure the right person is prosecuted with the right offence
One of the roles is to give guidance to prosecutors on the principles so they can make fair decisions
Reviewing cases from the police
Evaluating the evidential and noticing the weaknesses
What is the purpose of criminal law?
The law applies equally to everyone
The law is not secret or arbitrary
Laws are enforced fairly and
The justice system is fair
What are the crown prosecution service cases that they deal with?
Most cases
What are the HM Revenue and Customs
cases that they deal with?
Tax offences
What are the Customs and Excise
cases that they deal with?
Illegal importation of drugs
What are the Department for Work and Pensions cases that they deal with?
Benefit fraud
What are the serious fraud office cases that they deal with?
High level fraud
What are the Health and Safety Executive cases that they deal with?
Corporate homicide
What are the Private Prosecution cases that they deal with?
Private individuals and organisations
How was the crown prosecution service established?
Established under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985
What authority does the CPS have?
Principal prosecuting authority
What are the statistics from the 2022-23 Annual Report from the CPS?
7,000+ staff
402,000 prosecutions
83.8% conviction rate
What are the issues in the CPS?
Case load backlogs
8.4 increase in staffing following the decline
Declining of public confidence in how the CJS respond to violence against women and girls
Cases collapsing over disclosure failures
What are the functions of the CPS?
Decides which cases should be prosecuted
Determines the appropriate charges in more serious or complex cases and advises the police
Prepares cases and presents them at court
Provides information, assistance and support to victims and prosecution witnesses
What are the values from the CPS?
Independence and fairness
Honesty and openness
Respectfulness
Professionalism and excellence
What is the decrease in rape offences that were convicted 2021-22 vs 2022-23?
8%
What are the casework divisions of CPS?
Specialist Fraud
International Justice & Organised Crime
Specialist Crime & Counter-Terrorism
Serious Economic, Organised and International
Who found the adult out of court disposals?
Sentencing council, 2023
What are the adult out of court disposals?
Cannabis warning, simple caution, conditional caution, penalty notice for disorder, fixed penalty notice, community resolution
What did the proposal of the adult out of court disposals want to replace
1-4 with community caution and diversionary caution
Who found the juvenile out of court disposals?
Ministry of Justice, 2013
What are the juvenile out of court disposals?
Community resolution, youth caution, youth conditional caution
What tests and stages when making the decision to prosecute?
The full code test and next the public interest stage
What occurs in the full code test?
The evidential stage leading to the objective test
What occurs in the evidential stage?
If the evidence can be used in court
If the evidence is reliable
If the evidence is credible
What occurs if the case doesn’t satisfy the evidential stage?
The case will not proceed
What occurs in the public interest stage?
A discretionary test
What is done in the public interest stage?
If it is in public interest to prosecute
How serious the offence is
The level of culpability
Circumstance of the harm caused
Impact on the community
If the prosecution is a proportionate response
What are the additional factors to be considered in CPS prosecuting? (CPS 2018)
If there is correct jurisdiction to prosecute
If the defendant has immunity (age of criminal responsibility)
S127 Magistrates Court Act 1980
Bribery Act 2010
If the prosecution amount of an abuse of process
What is S127 Magistrates Court Act 1980 ?
If the offence time is barred
What is the Bribery Act 2010?
If the CPS needs permission of DPP or AG to prosecute
What is the position of victims from CPS?
“The Crown Prosecution Service does not act for victims or the families of victims in the same way as solicitors act for their clients. We act on behalf of the public and not just in the interests of any particular individual”
What is plea bargaining?
The defendant entering a guilty plea that results in a sentence concession
What are the different types of plea bargaining?
Between judge and the accused – indication of likely sentence to allow D toallow D to make a choice to plead guilty (Goodyear direction)
Between the prosecutor and accused results in a request for a more lenientsentence
Agreement by the prosecutor to accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge
Agreement with prosecutor not to proceed on one or more counts
What occurs in plea bargaining?
‘Basis of plea’ (how serious is the offence admitted to) must be agreed between prosecution and defence
What occurs if there is a guilty plea at 1st stage of proceedings?
1/3 reduction of sentence
What occurs if there is a guilty plea after 1st stage of proceedings?
1/4 decreasing on a sliding scale until the trial begins
What are the exceptions from plea bargaining?
Some firearm offences
Some terrorism, knife, and repeat drug and burglary offences- reduction cannot be below 80%
What is the Ministry of Justice’s responses to rising prison population and decline in space in prison?
Prisoners convicted of rape and equivalent offences not be eligible for automatic release part-way through their sentence
Release of some prisoners convicted of ‘lower level’ offences eighteen days before their automatic release date on End of Custody Licence (ECL)
Reviewing use of recall to reduce numbers in prison on recall
£400 million for 800 new cells and £30 million to acquire land.
