July 11, 2013

Report: CPS Weakening Under Lack of Resources

This post was written by: Aston Bond Law Firm

A new report investigating the workings of the Crown Prosecution Service; who are currently responsible for public prosecutions relating to criminal cases in England and Wales has found that a lack of resources is currently weakening the court system and effecting overall preparation for court cases across England and Wales.

The report by the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has found that the overall quality of persecutors was increasing; however, individual cases need to be speed up throughout the court system. The report also went on to state that a lack in resources has caused court case preparation to crumble under the pressure as the CPS cut staff numbers due to funding cuts of around 27%.

The report then went on to state that, “Contested cases were being prepared only a few days before the trial”; suggesting a total lack of both preparation and communicating within the court system throughout England and Wales. The report also went on to point the finger at Police officers throughout the country, claiming that the Police were taking the wrong decisions weather to charge a suspect or not; the report then went to to say this should be the responsibility of the prosecutor.

When the CPS gave a statement they said,  “We have had to make savings of 27% to our budget, but we are achieving this while both protecting frontline teams and improving performance.” One member of the Bar Council then went on to say that the CPS were being striped to their bare minimum.

One cause of these issues over the past two years is certain to be the cuts made within the CPS and as highlighted in the report both a lack of communication and lack of preparation; which all causes the court proceedings to slow. The full report can be found here.

Ashton Hudson, Online Marketing Executive

ahudson@astonbond.co.uk