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Crown Prosecution Service

Solicitor-General written question – answered at on 22 March 2005.

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Photo of Mr Colin Pickthall Mr Colin Pickthall PPS (Rt Hon Jack Straw, Secretary of State), Foreign & Commonwealth Office

To ask the Solicitor-General what records are kept of the proportion of cases submitted by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service that are deemed not to have a realistic prospect of successful prosecution.

Photo of Harriet Harman Harriet Harman Solicitor General (Law Officers), Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee

Since April 2004, the Crown Prosecution Service has recorded, for each case subject to a pre-charge decision in which the final decision was not to prosecute, the reason for that decision. Table 1 shows this information for the period April-December 2004, divided into evidential reasons and public interest reasons, together with the more exact reason allocated within each of these general categories.

Similarly, the Crown Prosecution Service records the reason for its decision to drop prosecutions after a defendant has been charged. This information is shown at Table 2, which covers the period January-December 2004. As well as cases in which either evidential or public interest reasons weighed against a prosecution, Table 2 also shows the number of cases in which a prosecution could not proceed, for example because the victim retracted or refused to give evidence, and a number of other reasons.

On both tables cases deemed not to have a realistic prospect of conviction are those shown under evidential reasons.

Table 1: Reasons for no prosecution 2004
Number Percentage
Evidential reasons
Key witness does not support case 1,545 1.5
Unreliable/lack of identification 5,424 5.3
Inadmissible evidence—Breach of PACE 462 0.5
Inadmissible evidence—other than Breach of

PACE

 704 0.7
Unreliable confession 256 0.2
Conflict of evidence 18,321 17.8
Essential medical evidence missing 617 0.6
Essential forensic evidence missing 1,442 1.4
Essential legal element missing 44,275 43.1
Unreliable witness or witnesses 7,345 7.2
Key victim does not support case 5,100 5.0
Total evidential reasons 85,491 83.3
Public interest reasons
Effect on victim's physical or mental health 425 0.4
Defendant elderly or in significant ill health 417 0.4
Loss or harm minor and single incident 2,098 2.0
Loss or harm put right 572 0.6
Long delay between offence/charge or trial 748 0.7
Very small or nominal penalty 2,263 2.2
Other indictment/sentence 1,748 1.7
Informer or other public interest immunity issues 368 0.4
Caution more suitable 6,793 6.6
Youth of offender 1,717 1.7
Total public interest reasons 17,149 16.7
Total reasons for no prosecution 102,640
Table 2: Reasons CPS dropped prosecution: 2004
Number Percentage
Evidential reasons
Key witness does not support case 1,331 0.6
Unreliable/lack of identification 7,208 3.4
Inadmissible evidence—Breach of PACE 405 0.2
Inadmissible evidence—other than Breach of

PACE

 1,267 0.6
Unreliable confession 154 0.1
Conflict of evidence 6,488 3.0
Essential medical evidence missing 527 0.2
Essential forensic evidence missing 1,444 0.7
Essential legal element missing 30,312 14.1
Unreliable witness or witnesses 3,695 1.7
Key victim does not support case 3,696 1.7
Total evidential reasons 56,527 26.3
Public interest reasons
Effect on victim's physical or mental health 481 0.2
Defendant elderly or in significant ill health 1,287 0.6
Loss or harm minor and single incident 576 0.3
Loss or harm put right 1,162 0.5
Long delay between offence/charge or trial 2,587 1.2
Very small or nominal penalty 3,114 1.4
Other indictment/sentence 9,046 4.2
Informer or other public interest immunity issues 1,852 0.9
Caution more suitable 5,286 2.5
Youth of offender 159 0.1
Total public interest reasons 25,550 11.9
Prosecution could not proceed
Administrative finalisation 50,502 23.5
File not received from police—adjournment

refused

 2,096 1.0
CPS not ready—adjournment refused 1,780 0.8
Offence taken into consideration 559 0.3
Victim refuses to give evidence or retracts 10,994 5.1
Other witness refuses to give evidence or retracts 1,370 0.6
Victim fails to attend unexpectedly 4,479 2.1
Other civilian witness fails to attend unexpectedly 1,719 0.8
Police witness fails to attend unexpectedly 1,389 0.6
Victim intimidation 28 0.0
Other civilian witness intimidation 41 0.0
Documents produced at court 9,629 4.5
Total prosecution could not proceed 84,586 39.3
Other reasons
Bind over acceptable 17,240 8.0
Other 31,231 14.5
Total other reasons 48,471 22.5
Total reasons for prosecution dropped 215,134

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