Who can prosecute criminal offences in England and how is the decision to prosecute made?

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the public prosecutor in the UK. It is led by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who reports to the Attorney General (AG).

The DPP, as the public prosecutor, is specifically tasked with taking over the conduct of all criminal proceedings instituted by or on behalf of a police force, other than certain 'specified proceedings'. Specified proceedings for these purposes means the list of proceedings set by the AG contained within the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Specified Proceedings) Order 1999, SI 1999/904 (as amended), which enables the police to take Enforcement action without having to refer the case to the CPS (so enabling the police to issue fixed Penalty notices or to commence proceedings for certain road traffic and low level offences).

The DPP is responsible for carrying out a series of statutory functions, set out in the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (POA 1985), albeit they are not the only prosecutor. Bodies