HC Deb 17 May 1993 vol 225 cc4-13W
Mr. Blair

To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of cases were discontinued by the crown prosecution service on the grounds of(a) evidential insufficiency or (b) it being not in the public interest to continue for each year since the instigation of the crown prosecution service.

The Attorney-General

Reasons for discontinuance are not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The total numbers of defendant cases discontinued in each year were as follows:

Year Number
1987–88 108,900
1988–89 120,714
1989–90 140,313
1990–91 151,236
1991–92 174,411
1992–93 193,774

The interim findings of Home Office research into the reasons for the termination of cases included 54 per cent. terminated on evidential grounds and 32 per cent. terminated in the public interest.

Table 1
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1987–88
Received1 Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals
Inner London 92,761 172,251 1,825 111,506 7,208 16,162 35,550
London North 41,369 75,557 1,425 46,379 4,895 8,709 14,149
London South 35,900 67,720 1,670 50,677 5,749 6,236 3,388
Avon/Somerset 18,373 35,649 1,234 28,099 2,138 3,417 761
Herts/Bedfordshire 16,029 28,091 1,465 21,441 1,942 2,239 1,004
Cambridge/Lincolnshire 14,791 28,914 916 23,182 1,783 2,396 637
Cheshire 11,849 24,956 1,423 19,248 1,754 1,765 736
Cleveland/North Yorkshire 18,808 37,889 3,554 27,296 2,390 3,024 1,625
Cumbria/Lancashire 31,247 64,617 12,125 41,663 4,430 4,773 1,626
Derbyshire 13,666 29,377 730 24,390 1,789 1,977 491
Devon/Cornwall 16,433 31,040 2,409 23,336 2,837 2,211 247
Dorset/Hampshire 26,960 51,736 1,663 40,369 4,113 4,753 838
Durham/Northumbria 33,070 62,742 2,124 41,703 4,659 7,030 7,226
North Wales 16,263 29,036 1,069 23,534 2,249 1,425 759
Essex 14,671 27,554 223 21,299 2,908 2,311 813
Gloster/Wiltshire 14,090 27,237 633 21,677 2,299 1,858 770
Greater Manchester 46,451 82,736 689 64,604 6,249 8,565 2,629
Gwent/South Wales 37,610 70,943 2,023 55,724 7,010 4,315 1,871
Humberside 11,753 25,095 1,049 18,483 1,019 3,421 1,123
Kent 17,872 37,448 997 28,444 3,798 3,423 786
Leicester/ Northamptonshire 21,223 36,919 607 28,012 3,018 3,471 1,811
Merseyside 25,296 48,442 821 35,456 4,415 5,460 2,290
Norfolk/Suffolk 18,656 36,066 2,510 27,698 2,578 1,952 1,328
Nottinghamshire 17,560 37,200 843 33,064 890 2,955 2552
South Yorkshire 19,933 36,511 1,624 26,610 2,483 4,207 1,587
Staffordshire/Warwickshire 19,934 37,446 2,196 28,461 2,937 2,788 1,064
Sussex 20,242 41,593 1,791 32,375 4,622 2,289 516
Thames Valley 26,708 45,981 3,110 36,271 2,584 3,008 1,008
West Mercia 12,877 27,148 1,163 20,352 2,052 2,269 1,312
West Midlands 38,060 70,346 2,210 53,333 2,453 8,900 3,450
West Yorkshire 35,878 72,732 639 52,799 9,649 7,584 2,061
Total Field 786,333 1,500,972 56,760 1,107,485 108,900 134,923 92,904
1 October 1987 to March 1988 only.
2 Minus value.

Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

The minus value for Other Disposals in the Nottinghamshire Area is produced because the sum of advice only, completed, discontinued and committed to the Crown Court cases is greater than the total number of cases recorded as finalised. This result is produced because of limitations in administrative arrangements for obtaining the basic data in the Area at that time. The occurrence of such circumstances is now avoided by validity checks and controls which have since been introduced.

Mr. Blair

To ask the Attorney-General how many cases were(a) received by the crown prosecution service from police, (b) completed in the magistrates court, (c) discontinued by the crown prosecution service before or at the magistrates court hearing, (d) committed to the Crown court by the magistrates court or (e) otherwise disposed for each year since the instigation of the crown prosecution service in each crown prosecution service region.

The Attorney-General

The tables show the numbers of defendant cases in each category dealt with in the 31 areas of the crown prosecution service for each year since April 1987. Cases received for pre-charge advice are also shown. "Other proceedings", such as forfeiture under the Obscene Publications Act, have been recorded separately since 1991.

Table 2
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1988–89
Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals
Inner London 176,686 169,844 1,263 107,070 10,683 16,073 34,755
London North 83,399 74,351 1,363 47,041 5,978 9,321 10,648
London South 73,715 73,877 1,712 52,558 6,839 6,036 6,732
Avon/Somerset 38,258 37,629 1,065 29,775 2,573 3,076 1,140
Herts/Bedfordshire 32,735 31,600 1,946 24,167 2,211 2,612 664
Cambridge/Lincolnshire 28,438 25,930 1,132 19,565 1,864 2,419 950
Cheshire 24,291 23,850 1,093 18,400 2,055 1,951 351
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire 38,637 35,958 2,327 26,500 2,435 3,271 1,425
Cumbria/Lancashire 57,891 58,937 7,310 41,361 3,648 5,079 1,539
Derbyshire 24,487 24,510 2,418 18,014 1,653 2,147 278
Devon/Cornwall 31,393 31,521 2,510 23,457 2,419 1,875 1,260
Dorset/Hampshire 59,983 57,588 1,474 46,198 3,759 4,660 1,497
Durham/Northumbria 67,852 64,376 2,827 41,463 5,778 6,476 7,832
North Wales 32,068 30,284 1,038 24,273 2,793 1,558 622
Essex 30,179 30,193 469 21,549 3,572 2,433 2,170
Gloster/Wiltshire 25,960 26,156 884 20,321 2,492 1,731 728
Greater Manchester 94,678 89,938 2,209 68,370 8,207 8,622 2,530
Gwent/South Wales 72,264 70,254 2,361 53,192 7,307 4,325 3,069
Humberside 27,276 26,591 1,320 19,309 1,715 3,458 789
Kent 34,392 34,807 1,116 26,216 3,719 2,999 757
Leicester/Northamptonshire 38,384 35,616 1,022 28,046 3,186 2,487 875
Merseyside 51,872 50,438 815 38,133 4,419 5,225 1,846
Norfolk/Suffolk 37,690 37,247 3,075 29,091 2,660 2,284 137
Nottinghamshire 38,507 36,464 618 30,304 956 3,324 1,262
South Yorkshire 44,934 41,685 5,045 28,502 2,866 4,101 1,171
Staffordshire/Warwickshire 40,008 38,935 1,897 29,351 3,236 3,012 1,439
Sussex 34,598 34,527 2,480 24,671 2,385 2,456 2,535
Thames Valley 48,547 45,479 3,189 34,056 2,748 3,051 2,435
West Mercia 26,777 25,946 932 20,567 2,241 1,787 419
West Midlands 79,276 77,450 2,125 61,123 3,029 8,526 2,647
West Yorkshire 78,941 66,367 603 45,877 11,288 7,352 1,247
Total Field 1,574,116 1,508,348 59,638 1,098,520 120,714 133,727 95,749
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 3
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1989–90
Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals
Inner London 166,374 169,577 2,522 105,622 12,756 16,497 32,180
London North 82,137 73,167 1,920 46,689 7,236 8,484 8,838
London South 67,902 71,849 1,816 48,947 6,925 5,757 8,404
Avon/Somerset 37,910 38,190 1,225 29,238 2,965 2,918 1,844
Herts/Bedfordshire 32,376 32,535 1,851 23,836 2,694 2,565 1,589
Cambridge/Lincolnshire 32,495 30,527 1,020 23,591 2,410 2,559 947
Cheshire 25,452 24,749 1,143 18,664 2,369 1,978 595
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire 36,699 36,378 2,964 25,802 2,816 3,272 1,524
Cumbria/Lancashire 61,369 58,902 2,924 44,422 4,555 5,272 1,729
Derbyshire 26,755 25,840 4,264 17,096 1,798 2,282 400
Devon/Cornwall 34,051 33,937 2,320 25,240 2,518 2,606 1,253
Dorset/Hampshire 63,602 61,892 1,853 48,706 3,826 5,098 2,409
Durham/Northumbria 68,322 65,455 2,441 42,777 7,602 5,141 7,494
North Wales 34,621 32,937 865 26,121 3,477 1,597 877
Essex 34,542 34,109 176 24,359 4,592 2,432 2,550
Gloster/Wiltshire 28,221 27,270 840 20,857 2,989 1,626 958
Greater Manchester 101,713 98,186 3,099 74,557 9,143 7,756 3,631
Gwent/South Wales 76,175 71,402 3,721 52,209 8,311 4,787 2,374
Humberside 26,797 26,430 1,223 19,343 2,047 3,059 758
Kent 36,291 36,180 1,253 26,921 4,081 3,193 732
Leicester/ Northamptonshire 35,756 33,427 797 24,999 3,186 2,812 1,633
Merseyside 60,932 56,517 841 43,944 4,324 4,896 2,512
Norfolk/Suffolk 39,843 38,450 2,885 29,984 2,702 2,595 284
Nottinghamshire 41,323 39,371 894 32,848 1,674 2,811 1,144

Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals
South Yorkshire 48,632 46,277 5,669 31,325 3,468 4,188 1,627
Staffordshire/Warwickshire 45,379 43,401 1,665 32,672 3,878 3,420 1,766
Sussex 36,267 35,364 1,641 25,567 2,737 2,562 2,857
Thames Valley 49,572 49,830 2,331 32,833 2,726 2,700 9,240
West Mercia 26,363 26,149 932 20,558 2,568 1,825 266
West Midlands 80,785 77,601 1,806 59,803 4,621 8,586 2,785
West Yorkshire 82,691 79,148 5,223 50,850 13,319 7,473 2,283
Total Field 1,622,347 1,575,047 64,124 1,130,380 140,313 132,747 107,483
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 4
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1990–91
Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals
Inner London 149,066 154,355 2,518 90,613 12,507 15,997 32,720
London North 79,181 80,764 2,260 48,806 8,350 8,274 13,074
London South 65,872 65,781 1,882 43,195 6,775 6,121 7,808
Avon/Somerset 37,379 37,139 1,247 28,560 3,295 2,667 1,370
Herts/Bedfordshire 32,858 34,002 1,731 23,002 3,018 2,032 4,219
Cambridge/Lincolnshire 31,521 30,363 1,090 22,933 2,906 2,689 745
Cheshire 25,526 24,440 1,055 18,491 2,423 1,921 550
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire 38,070 36,286 2,119 25,948 3,117 3,612 1,490
Cumbria/Lancashire 63,795 59,425 1,946 43,834 5,118 6,184 2,343
Derbyshire 24,356 23,549 2,517 16,410 1,743 2,190 689
Devon/Cornwall 33,629 33,169 1,797 25,139 2,730 2,618 885
Dorset/Hampshire 62,045 61,971 1,180 48,603 3,784 5,531 2,873
Durham/Northumbria 73,573 71,632 2,725 46,092 9,319 5,425 8,071
North Wales 37,353 35,587 708 28,531 3,983 1,752 613
Essex 37,378 37,346 561 22,638 4,828 2,642 6,677
Gloster/Wiltshire 29,938 29,526 722 22,400 3,637 1,923 844
Greater Manchester 103,485 98,847 3,242 77,492 9,226 7,323 1,564
Gwent/South Wales 80,708 80,575 4,135 58,331 8,910 5,246 3,953
Humberside 27,952 27,283 1,407 19,269 1,999 3,282 1,326
Kent 33,685 34,183 1,276 24,030 4,844 3,266 767
Leicester/ Northamptonshire 36,957 38,676 922 28,211 4,128 2,870 2,545
Merseyside 61,576 58,631 671 44,591 5,236 4,800 3,333
Norfolk/Suffolk 38,674 37,232 3,453 26,968 3,142 2,561 1,108
Nottinghamshire 41,615 42,852 589 35,018 1,632 2,827 2,786
South Yorkshire 51,699 53,383 5,518 37,773 3,991 4,345 1,756
Staffordshire/Warwickshire 44,463 43,132 1,674 31,393 4,048 3,410 2,607
Sussex 35,943 35,466 1,572 25,590 2,627 2,899 2,778
Thames Valley 48,018 49,072 2,346 33,314 3,915 2,990 6,507
West Mercia 27,241 26,392 1,175 20,510 2,511 1,959 237
West Midlands 78,970 80,803 1,272 62,133 5,146 8,025 4,227
West Yorkshire 92,531 90,567 17,441 50,491 12,348 7,306 2,981
Total Field 1,625,057 1,612,429 72,751 1,130,309 151,236 134,687 123,446
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 5
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1991–92
Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals Other Proceedings
Inner London 147,693 145,829 2,421 85,120 19,029 14,383 23,867 1,009
London North 79,637 74,897 2,233 47,219 11,778 7,480 5,307 880
London South 60,768 60,537 1,932 39,940 7,674 5,609 4,961 421
Avon/Somerset 36,472 36,832 1,074 25,461 4,550 3,042 2,174 531
Herts/Bedfordshire 31,273 33,392 2,272 20,148 4,228 1,597 4,383 764
Cambridge/Lincolnshire 29,788 28,562 1,311 20,291 3,142 2,668 908 242
Cheshire 24,766 24,901 849 17,792 2,701 2,050 850 652

Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals Other Proceedings
Cleveland/North Yorkshire 39,989 39,471 1,686 25,401 4,371 3,865 2,149 2,000
Cumbria/Lancashire 61,855 61,726 2,428 43,100 5,914 6,293 3,625 366
Derbyshire 24,801 25,054 4,031 14,984 1,595 1,958 2,144 343
Devon/Cornwall 33,194 34,170 1,297 25,541 2,747 2,271 1,898 416
Dorset/Hampshire 63,300 65,363 1,524 49,598 4,862 5,135 3,497 747
Durham/Northumbria 67,866 66,196 2,235 44,431 9,825 5,575 3,561 569
North Wales 38,774 37,161 810 28,426 3,693 1,670 2,028 534
Essex 41,888 38,387 1,454 27,537 3,333 2,410 3,319 414
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire 32,823 32,991 964 23,292 3,826 1,818 2,570 521
Greater Manchester 102,983 102,507 2,624 71,969 9,904 7,818 6,410 3,782
Gwent/South Wales 76,878 76,416 4,147 53,035 8,648 5,089 4,262 1,235
Humberside 26,238 26,158 1,557 17,702 1,792 3,109 743 1,255
Kent 29,179 29,907 1,072 19,502 4,848 3,025 1,182 278
Leicester/ Northamptonshire 37,856 42,023 1,288 28,766 3,807 3,162 4,537 1,046
Merseyside 56,711 61,230 762 44,812 6,428 5,321 3,453 454
Norfolk/Suffolk 38,188 38,695 3,254 27,715 3,434 2,706 1,200 384
Nottinghamshire 28,302 32,536 577 22,877 4,339 2,482 1,767 394
South Yorkshire 43,538 47,227 5,317 28,105 4,652 4,322 4,343 197
Staffordshire/ Warwickshire 45,059 45,261 2,068 32,713 4,643 3,404 1,696 737
Sussex 36,194 36,320 1,878 25,557 3,664 2,709 2,145 366
Thames Valley 41,994 41,889 2,342 28,095 5,717 2,810 2,394 530
West Mercia 25,094 26,379 1,748 18,444 2,829 1,652 1,310 359
West Midlands 77,827 70,992 709 50,197 7,984 7,028 4,184 890
West Yorkshire 90,247 85,844 15,473 50,877 8,454 7,206 3,408 436
Total Field 1,571,175 1,568,853 73,337 1,058,747 174,411 129,667 110,275 22,752
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 6
Magistrates'Courts Cases 1992–93
Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals Other Proceedings
Inner London 146,480 148,352 2,749 80,785 22,538 11,440 29,075 1,765
London North 76,838 73,918 3,781 44,749 12,284 5,556 6,498 1,050
London South 58,390 58,182 2,322 37,363 8,481 4,720 4,845 451
Avon/Somerset 34,379 34,049 1,283 22,485 4,549 2,650 2,611 471
Herts/Bedfordshire 30,415 30,408 1,814 19,159 3,881 1,787 2,757 1,010
Cambridge/Lincolnshire 31,326 28,325 1,669 20,255 3,328 2,173 720 180
Cheshire 26,300 25,749 1,478 17,752 2,653 1,976 951 939
Cleveland/North Yorkshire 40,663 40,418 2,135 26,210 5,480 3,655 1,636 1,302
Cumbria/Lancashire 62,616 61,486 2,398 43,497 6,625 5,097 3,281 588
Derbyshire 23,285 23,613 3,967 14,200 2,062 1,711 1,386 287
Devon/Cornwall 30,174. 30,985 1,428 23,106 2,659 2,026 1,394 372
Dorset/Hampshire 58,043 59,271 1,750 43,874 4,724 3,913 4,330 680
Durham/Northumbria 68,353 69,382 2,151 44,856 12,478 4,748 4,656 493
North Wales 36,250 36,436 1,218 27,077 4,175 1,665 1,757 544
Essex 39,869 41,670 2,030 28,385 3,064 1,974 6,065 152
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire 33,417 33,434 1,168 22,858 3,835 1,496 3,014 1,063
Greater Manchester 105,716 103,350 2,382 71,911 10,541 7,568 6,202 4,746
Gwent/South Wales 75,537 77,529 5,083 50,273 9,395 4,684 6,647 1,447
Humberside 24,139 24,042 1,382 16,536 1,949 2,320 379 1,476
Kent 28,463 27,643 1,125 17,907 4,865 2,366 1,156 224
Leicester/Northamptonshire 38,202 40,406 2,334 26,174 4,773 3,104 2,973 1,048
Merseyside 54,586 56,090 1,099 41,584 5,960 4,835 2,238 374
Norfolk/Suffolk 36,760 37,951 3,484 26,610 3,156 2,244 1,651 806
Nottinghamshire 27,794 28,837 523 19,876 4,083 2,530 1,501 324
South Yorkshire 39,155 39,885 5,257 22,839 6,342 3,106 2,049 292
Staffordshire/Warwickshire 46,806 45,895 2,741 33,027 4,981 2,872 1,383 891
Sussex 32,739 32,186 1,719 22,082 4,011 2,049 2,038 287
Thames Valley 45,320 45,489 3,108 28,714 6,201 2,449 4,231 786

Received Finalised of which:
Advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other Disposals Other Proceedings
West Mercia 27,614 26,977 1,198 19,200 3,833 1,544 908 294
West Midlands 76,593 74,305 1,545 48,616 9,986 6,524 6,095 1,539
West Yorkshire 74,364 76,249 6,228 48,403 10,882 7,300 3,212 224
Total Field 1,530,586 1,532,512 72,549 1,010,363 193,774 112,082 117,639 26,105
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Mr. Blair

To ask the Attorney-General what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of victims who are consulted when a case is discontinued by the crown prosecution service.

The Attorney-General

The crown prosecution service does not consult victims directly. Where appropriate the victim's views are made known to the CPS through the police, who are consulted before a case is discontinued and to whom the victims charter assigns the role of keeping victims informed about proceedings. The interests of the victim are an important factor in determining the balance of the public interest.