Dear Colleague, Please ensure that the following information is distributed to members of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) in your law school:
Please find this letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, the Code for Crown Prosecutors Consultation document and the instructions to the consultation, all attached.
The purpose of this consultation is to seek a wide range of views on proposed changes to the Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code). The Director of Public Prosecutions is responsible for issuing the Code under section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.
The Code provides guidance on the general principles to be applied by Crown Prosecutors when making decisions about prosecutions. The Code is subject to regular review and it was last updated in 2004. It now needs to be updated again to take account of recent changes in law and practice and the merger with the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office. We welcome comments from everyone with an interest in this area. In particular, it would be helpful if you addressed the seven questions below in your response, but we would of course welcome comments on any other aspects.
Both written and electronic responses to the consultation are acceptable.
Closing date for responses: 11 January 2010. ***************************************************************************************************************************************************