The Prosecutors: Real Crime and Punishment

For the first time in its 29 year history, the Crown Prosecution Service has allowed cameras to document their work for a ground-breaking series, The Prosecutors. Production Company Gold Star secured access to the Crown Prosecution Service and over the past two years has followed a number of cases for an exclusive three-part series. In 2014 the Crown Prosecution Service brought nearly three quarters of a million criminal prosecutions (651,352) to court in England and Wales. Every case was carried out on behalf of the state by the CPS. The CPS’s performance faces constant scrutiny. This series goes behind the headlines to see how the CPS makes decisions on who to prosecute and the processes they must go through in their attempts to secure convictions. With unprecedented access, the cameras follow a number of cases, including death by careless driving, murder investigations, allegations of indecent assaults, the prosecution of a historic murder case and of an organised gang who target cash machines. Alongside testimony and first-hand experience from witnesses and victims, the work of the CPS is followed from the initial decision-making (assessing whether to charge, what charge to make, and the associated dilemmas involved) to building a case, through to the trial and final resolution.