the crown prosecution service prosecutes criminal offences within the english legal system.
the crown prosecution service prosecutes criminal offences within the english legal system.
who prosecutes criminal offences within the english legal system?
the crown prosecution service
the later years of his service were dominated by wide-ranging changes to the criminal legal system in the uk. a perceived miscarriage of justice after the murder of male prostitute maxwell confait, and a subsequent critical report by the retired high court judge sir henry fisher in 1977, led to a royal commission on criminal procedure chaired by sir cyril philips, which reported in 1981. the royal commission recommended changes to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, and that the decision to prosecute should be taken out of the hands of the police and given to an independent body in charge of crown prosecutions. the government accepted the report. after consultation, the police and criminal evidence act 1984 (pace) was enacted to formalise the existing judges rules, and the crown prosecution service was created in 1986 under the terms of the prosecution of offences act 1985, with hetherington as its first head until he retired in 1987.
thomas hetherington
roman canon law is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code principles of legal interpretation, and coercive penalties, though it lacks civilly-binding force in most secular jurisdictions. one example where it did not previously apply was in the english legal system, as well as systems, such as the u.s., that derived from it. here criminals could apply for the benefit of clergy. being in holy orders, or fraudulently claiming to be, meant that criminals could opt to be tried by ecclesiastical rather than secular courts. the ecclesiastical courts were generally more lenient. under the tudors, the scope of clerical benefit was steadily reduced by henry vii, henry viii, and elizabeth i. the vatican disputed secular authority over priests' criminal offences, and this in turn contributed to the english reformation. the benefit of clergy was systematically removed from english legal systems over the next 200 years, although it still occurred in south carolina in 1827.
canon law