The Crown Prosecution Service has launched a consultation asking the public for views on a set of proposed minimum standards that prosecutors should achieve at each stage of the prosecution process.

The document sets core quality standards for prosecutors across 12 key areas of their work, from providing advice to police before a charge, to sentencing and appeal processes.

It includes standards on providing the police and other investigators with advice to assist in tackling crime effectively, engaging with communities, and presenting cases fairly and firmly.

The consultation follows the launch in July this year by Keir Starmer (pictured), the Director of Public Prosecutions, of a blueprint for the future organisation of the CPS, which announced the core quality standards as the key to a transparent and accountable prosecution service.

Starmer said: ‘This is a real step forward in ensuring that we deliver in terms of quality and consistency across England and Wales. These standards define a new relationship between the prosecution service and the public we serve, who can now see in plain English what to expect from us at every stage of a prosecution.’ ‘This is how the public can hold us to account and also the means by which our performance will be assessed. We expect the public to hold us to account when our performance does fall below these high standards, and we will judge our success as prosecutors by our ability to consistently deliver them,’ said Starmer. Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, welcomed the standards. He said: ‘The Core Quality Standards for prosecutors will assist in the delivery of a more efficient and effective criminal justice service.’

The consultation closes on 18 January 2010 and the standards will be adopted across the CPS from April. The consultation document will be posted shortly on the CPS website.