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- Make sure that decisions to bring people to court are fair and likely to succeed
- Opportunity to work on varied, challenging and interesting cases
- You'll need to be a qualified solicitor or barrister first
As a crown prosecutor you'll work with other prosecutors, caseworkers and administrative staff.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Checking facts and documents for each case
- Advising which charges are suitable
- Explaining decisions to defence lawyers, witnesses, the police and other agencies
- Deciding if there's enough evidence to convict, and if it's reliable and can be used in court
- Preparing the case for the prosecution
- Making sure relevant evidence is put before the court
- Presenting the case to a panel of magistrates or judges, or to a judge and jury
- Depending on the court
- Questioning the defendant and witnesses and summing up the case for the prosecution
- Training other prosecutors and caseworkers
- Representing the CPS at casework conferences
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You may work on a rota system, including weekends and public holidays. Most of the cases you work on will be in magistrates' courts and on more serious cases you'll work in the Crown Court. You could work from home for CPS Direct. CPS Direct operates a 24 hour service, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, on a rota system. Your working environment may be emotionally demanding.
You'll need
For this role you'll need excellent verbal communication skills, active listening skills, analytical thinking skills and legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations.
You can only apply for this job if you've trained as a solicitor or barrister and have completed your Legal Practice Course or Bar Professional Training Course and a 2-year training contract or a 12-month pupillage. You can train for these roles through the Crown Prosecution Service Legal Trainee Scheme. You'll need at least a lower second class degree for this.
You'll also need to pass security checks and enhanced background checks for this role.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience and further training you could progress to senior crown prosecutor. From there you could become crown advocate, senior crown advocate and principal crown advocate.