Crown Prosecution Service

Crown Prosecution Service
Agency overview
Formed1986; 38 years ago (1986)
TypeNon-ministerial government department
JurisdictionEngland and Wales
Headquarters102 Petty France, Westminster, London, England
Employees5,794 (2019/20)[1]
Annual budget£592 million (2012–13)[2]
Minister responsible
Agency executive
Websitecps.gov.uk Edit this at Wikidata

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advice to the police and other investigative agencies during the course of criminal investigations, to decide whether a suspect should face criminal charges following an investigation, and to conduct prosecutions both in the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court.

The Attorney General for England and Wales superintends the CPS's work and answers for it in Parliament, although the Attorney General has no influence over the conduct of prosecutions, except when national security is an issue or for a small number of offences that require the Attorney General's permission to prosecute.

  1. ^ "Annual Report and Accounts 2019–21" (PDF). Crown Prosecution Service. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference AnnualReport was invoked but never defined (see the help page).