Rape case management to be transformed by Crown Prosecution Service

The report highlights three main areas of activity, which are:

• improving the support given to victims and recognising the trauma they experience
• supporting prosecutors and expanding the size of specialist units, so that they are properly resourced to respond to these challenging and complex cases
• better collaboration with the police from the very start of an investigation, taking an offender-centric approach to case building

In July 2020, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) strategy on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO 2025) was published.

A major focus of this work has been on improving collaboration and transforming how the CPS and police handle rape investigations and prosecutions.

New pilots are being trialled in five CPS areas and their corresponding police forces, including the following.

• Closer partnership on investigations – testing several methods of providing early advice to the police, to improve the number, timeliness and quality of police referrals so that more rape cases go before the courts.
• Action plan monitoring – making sure that all action plans set by the CPS are reasonable, are proportionate and help build strong cases.
• No further action (NFA) scrutiny – increasing scrutiny of decisions not to charge, with police, local stakeholders and CPS jointly looking at cases.
• Supporting victims – enhancing communication with victims and increasing engagement with independent sexual violence advisers.
• Supporting our people – joint learning with police and prosecutors.

These pilots will shortly be expanded to other parts of the country.

Read more: No stone left unturned to transform rape case handling says Director of Public Prosecutions