ABSTRACT
The criminal justice system has recently been the subject of widespread heated debate in parliament, the broadcast media and the print media and in academic and professional journals. The British Crime Survey (Home Office Statistical Bulletin, issue 21/98) estimates there were nearly 16,500,000 crimes against adults living in households in 1997. It is common for lawyers, academics and commentators to refer to something called 'the criminal justice system'. The criminal justice system costs over 12 billion a year to run. It is, therefore, a matter of singular importance in the formulation of public policy to ensure that any major working part of such a system is properly geared into the other working parts. This means that within the criminal justice system something in the order of 400,000 cases each year are being prosecuted by agencies other than the CPS.
