Crown Prosecution Service inspectors have praised staff involved in prosecuting serious and complex crime for working long hours in a report published today.
Complex Casework Units were set up by the CPS in 2007. Assessing their effectiveness and efficiency for the first time, HMCPS Inspectorate said the units were staffed by ‘a committed and confident workforce who demonstrated a high level of professionalism and skill in their work’.
The report states that staff 'are regularly required to deal with demanding work, often at short notice. That they are willing to do so, where it is necessary, is a testament to their professionalism’.
Inspectors found, in general, that CCUs are effective and efficient in managing casework. ‘Whilst there are areas where they can improve… they should not detract from the overall high standard of work we saw during our inspection’.
One area of criticism concerned the prosecution strategy document.
CPS guidance describes the document as a ‘living document’ which must be started as soon as a lawyer has a relevant case which appears likely to result in a prosecution. It must be continually updated to form an audit trail recording the key prosecution strategy and all decision making. It details the evidence, charging strategy, timeline and disclosure strategy.
Of 36 files that inspectors examined, the PSD was completed in six cases. But in two of the cases where the PSD was completed, it did not contain the disclosure strategy. There was no evidence of the remaining cases being formally exempt from the mandatory requirement.
CCU lawyers told inspectors they rarely completed a PSD. ‘They believed it did not add any value and was a duplication of effort, because the same information was normally contained in several different documents they had already produced on a case file, such as a review document and briefing notes,’ the report said.
However, the PSD requirement was ‘sensible and necessary’, the inspectorate said.
‘The benefits of one document containing the full strategy adopted throughout the life of a case are substantial. It gives a clear and accurate account of why decisions are made, the risks anticipated, and the strategy pursued. If the CPS is called on at a later stage to explain its decision making, it is in a much stronger position to do so if a PSD has been accurately completed.’
A CPS spokesperson said: 'Our Complex Casework Units play a vital role in tackling serious and organised crime, so we welcome the recognition of our high standards of casework along with CCU employees’ dedication and excellence within this report. We are committed to securing further improvements in the resilience of our Complex Casework Units to ensure they match the fast-moving landscape of crime and will implement all the recommendations in the report.'
Improving compliance with the documentary audit trails and processes is part of one of the three recommendations in the report, which the CPS has accepted.
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