ABSTRACT
The Royal Commission reported in 1981, after which major changes to the criminal justice process were introduced by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984, and the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1985. The author's analysis arises from a long-term study of police and prosecution decision making which began in 1986 and which embraced police forces in England and Wales. The prosecution comprises two institutions: the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The police have existed in their form since the mid-nineteenth century. The system of private prosecution which the police came to replace quickly fell into desuetude, and the next 150 years saw a remarkable growth in the dominance of police prosecutions. Until the mid 1980s the police retained all of the functions within a framework of rules and guidelines gradually embellished by piecemeal Acts of Parliament, administrative guidelines and judicial rulings.
