ABSTRACT
The English criminal procedure has adversarial roots. The locus of the proceedings, at least in theory, lies in the adversarial trial. In practice, however, the determinative nature of the trial has been undermined, as described later. English prosecutors have a less important role than their continental counterparts. They select cases for prosecution and defend charges in court, but they have no administrative powers over the police. Culturally, English police are accustomed to conducting investigations independently, although criticisms were made of their ability to adequately prepare cases for prosecution (Sanders and Young, 2007: 371, 382–385). As a result, prosecutors were given powers to guide legal aspects of police investigations and take decisions to ‘charge’, or open criminal proceedings following the investigative stage (although these powers were subsequently reduced, as they led to delays) (Joyce, 2017: 146). Currently, English prosecutors take charging decisions and advise police only with regard to more serious or complex offences. They also play a modest role in administering out-of-court disposals, which are mostly issued by the police. 1
