AC3.4

• strengths of CPS

  - prosecuted over 80,00 cases in crown and 450,000 in magistrates court in 2018

  - 84% defendants prosecuted are convicted

  - applies Full Code Test to all cases, ensuring consistency in the handling of cases
• limitations of CPS

  - Geoffrey Cox reported a 30% budget cut

  - centralised system is bureaucratic

  - prosecution for rape cases falling despite increase in reporting

  - failure to disclose evidence in rape cases - Liam Allen
• strengths of charity and pressure groups

  - offenders feel supported rather than targeted

  - not restricted by government or concerned with pleasing voters

  - supports inmates and their families

  - may reduce recidivism rates
• limitations of charity and pressure groups

  - funding relies on donations

  - media less likely to give positive publicity

  - politicians may be less supportive and therefore not publicly show support

  - people less likely to support criminals
• the prison reform trust


  campaigns for a just, humane and effective penal system

  - 'Out for Good, Lessons for the Future' campaign sought to secure employment for prisoners on release
• howard league for penal reform


  aims for safer communities, fewer people in prison, overall less crime

  - 'books for prisoners' helped charity win recognition award in 2015

  - campaign to reduce criminalisation in children led to a 58% decrease in child arrests
• strengths of police

  - there are now more officers from minority ethnic backgrounds

  - government is in the process of trying to recruit 20,000 new officers

  - stats indicate an overall downward trend in offending over past two decades - CSEW reported 7% decrease in crime

  - they have specialist departments: terrorism units which are highly successful in preventing serious crime
• limitations of police

  - in 2018/19, fewer than 8% of offences led to a suspect being charged or ordered to appear in court

  - knife and firearms offences risen by 20%

  - public don't always trust them so withhold information - contributing to dark figure of crime

  - met failed to gather evidence and investigate leads in the Stephen Lawrence case (they're bias)

  - institutional racism: officer wrongfully shot mark duggan, leading to 2011 London Riots
• john lowe


  police failings 'contributed' to mother and daughter shot dead by him

  - didn't investigate threat to kill

  - handed his shotgun back to him, 7 months before the murder

  - the force's firearms licensing department failed to investigate if it was safe to return the gun
• strengths of probation

  - reoffending rates are 8.3% lower for community than custodial sentences

  - focuses on trying to modify behaviour (rehab offenders)

  - helps protect victims

  - helps offenders find housing and employment
• limitations of probation

  - national shortage of officers has been linked to an increase in workload and a decline in professional standards being met

  - no national strategy to provide enough local specialist services

  - some offenders aren't seen by a officer for weeks or months therefore aren't rehabilitated
• community rehabilitation companies as a limitation of probation


  - worked on a 'payment-by-result' basis meaning they were focused on the numbers and not rehabilitating offenders

  - only 54% of cases supervised by them were provided w adequate housing support, compared to 70% of NPS cases

  - offenders often supervised over telephone therefore no social interaction was had

  - staff underestimated the risk of offending in 70% of cases, predominantly DA cases, meaning victims weren't fully protected
• strengths of judiciary

  - increasing number of female and BAME judges: 7% increase since 2014 in women's representation among court judges

  - independent from government - ensures resolution

  - highly experienced professionals w great legal knowledge

  - follow precedent ensuring consistency in sentencing and verdict
• limitations of judiciary

  - 72% court judges and 72% tribunal judges aged 50 in 2021

  - 2019 Law Gazette showed 65% senior judges educated at independent schools and 75% attended oxford or cambridge

  - many appeals due to wrongful convictions or lenient sentences

  - questionable decisions - Lavinia Woodward received suspended sentence after she stabbed her boyfriend bec she was about to become a heart surgeon
• James Pickles


  ineffective at achieving social control as a judge

  - inconsistent in sentencing - either too harsh or duly lenient

  - allowed personal beliefs to influence his decisions rather than sentencing guidelines

  - heavily gender bias - granted probation to a man who had sexually assaulted a 6yr old girl but imprisoned teenage mother for 6 months for turning a blind eye to friends shop lifting
• strengths of prisons

  - inmates behaviour is highly controlled inside

  - some provide treatment and education programmes - aids rehabilitation

  - only about 2 inmates successfully escape from here - highly regulated

  - protects the public by removes criminal from society
• limitations of prisons

  - 58% of all were overcrowded in 2018

  - lack of access to rehabilitation and education programmes causes inmates to be illiterate and drug depended - drug epidemic within esp w spice

  - 69 suicides and 47,000 incidents of self-harm here in 2018

  - Birmingham riots 2016 led to a breakdown of social control