Frances Gibb writes in the Times (01 June 2013) that victims are finally to have a right to appeal CPS decisions to drop proceedings in their cases. This long awaited development reinforces the importance of victims within the criminal justice system. This right of appeal is supplemental to the complaints system and Judicial Review (heavily under threat by government cuts and which requires a high legal threshold).
There are 88,000 cases dropped by the CPS every year and the overwhelming number of complaints which the CPS receives concerns the disposal of prosecutions.
The victim will have a right of appeal where the CPS decides not to charge, discontinues the prosecution, or offers no evidence in court. In order for the decision to be appealed successfully, it must be wrong and should be reversed to maintain public confidence.
This means that the CPS will need to think even more carefully about discontinuing cases upon the receipt of representations from the defence, and include the victim when making the decision to drop the case.
This has been a long time coming; various dicta from senior judiciary and pressure from victims’ charities have finally achieved a greater prominence for victims.
