ABSTRACT
The decision as to whether the criminal process is initiated presupposes that the police have decided to charge an offender. Those cases that are ‘filtered out’ by the police, whether by ‘no criming’, or by a decision that no further action is to be taken, do not reach the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Those that do still have to meet the criteria by which cases are assessed as appropriate for prosecution, and which are contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
