Working in the interests of justice? : the Crown Prosecution Service and the prosecution of public order offences

In 1985 the power of the prosecution of offences was taken away from the police. The Crown Prosecution Service was created to provide an efficient, fair and independent review of cases accountable to Parliament and the public. The importance of this separation of powers goes to the constitutional heart of the criminal justice process. This study is a comprehensive analysis of how prosecutors exercised their statutory powers in the 1990s particularly by reference to the prosecution of public order offences. The thesis provides an extensive analysis of the law relating to public order offences as well as a detailed picture of the prosecution of public order offences in the Manchester City magistrates' court through the use of three methods of case study data collection (a questionnaire, a cases survey and case files). The findings of the research suggest that the Crown Prosecution Service plays a re active rather than pro-active role in the decision-making concerning prosecutions for public order offences. The police are the dominant partner in the relationship between the police and Crown Prosecution Service who rely almost entirely on the police for the information available in prosecution cases. There is a need for change in the way public order offences are prosecuted so that the Crown Prosecution Service really does provide an effective and independent review of cases. Only then will the Crown Prosecution Service be working in the interests of justice and have earned its full trust and respect as a member of the criminal justice system.