§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service. [168311]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI would refer the hon. Member to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Annual Report.
The CPS is the principal public prosecuting authority for England and Wales, handling criminal cases investigated by the police.
The following table provides some key figures on the volume of cases handled by the service in 2003 and in the two preceding years; and the outcome of those cases.
While these figures support the view that the CPS makes a valuable contribution to the delivery of justice, the Service has set itself further challenging targets for 2004–05. In this year, it will seek to build on its success and reduce the proportion of unsuccessful outcomes by 11 per cent. as compared with the levels seen in 2001–02. This will contribute to the achievement of the wider criminal justice system target of bringing 1.2 million offences to justice in 2005–06. The CPS will also contribute to the reduction in the numbers of ineffective trials to 18.5 per cent. in the Crown court and 24.5 per cent. in the magistrates court.
To achieve these targets, the main priority for the CPS in 2004–05 is to introduce the statutory charging scheme, where prosecutors will determine the charges to be preferred in the more serious cases. This follows the success of pilots in 2002–03 and of the shadow charging scheme in 2003–04. The CPS will also take a leading role in introducing the "no witness, no justice" arrangements to provide much better information and support to witnesses throughout their involvement in the criminal justice system.
These activities are designed to move the CPS towards achieving its vision of being a world-class, independent prosecuting authority that delivers a valued public service.
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Crown Prosecution Service case outcomes 2001 2002 2003 Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Convictions after trial 37,167 3.0 39,516 3.1 46,933 3.7 Total convictions 941,429 76.5 963,034 76.6 990,808 78.3 Committals to the Crown court 89,603 — 92,114 — 96,382 — Crown court Finalised 112,438 — 123,754 — 126,949 — Committals for sentence 18,460 — 19,940 — 19,615 — Appeals 11,568 — 11,763 — 11,384 — Case outcomes Judge ordered acquittals (including bind overs) 12,744 15.2 14,340 15.3 14,751 15.1 Warrants etc. 1,445 1.7 1,739 1.9 1,914 2.0 Judge directed acquittals 1,495 1.8 1,442 1.5 1,565 1.6 Jury acquittals 6,630 7.9 6,402 6.8 6,874 7.0 Total unsuccessful outcomes 22,314 26.7 23,922 25.6 25,104 25.6 Guilty pleas 50,597 60.4 57,024 60.9 59,701 61.0 Convictions after trial 10,803 12.9 12,677 13.5 13,076 13.4 Total convictions 61,400 73.3 69,701 74.4 72,777 74.4 Figures for 2003 are provisional, and may be subject to revision
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Solicitor-General what steps she is taking to increase the number of lawyers in Merseyside Crown Prosecution Service. [170340]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralCPS Merseyside currently has the equivalent of 82.74 full-time lawyers. The figures for 2001 to 2003 are 71.3, 78.3 and 79.6 respectively.
CPS Merseyside is actively recruiting prosecutors and, in addition to national advertising campaigns, advertisements have been placed in the regional and local press in the north west and in legal and minority ethnic publications. CPS Merseyside also uses continuous online recruitment via the internet. Candidates can apply at any time and, if they meet the minimum standards, can be called for interview very quickly.
Through the CPS Law Scholarship Scheme, CPS Merseyside has three former caseworkers who are now legal trainees, two of whom will qualify as lawyers before the end of the year and will be eligible to apply for posts as crown prosecutors.