Introduction

This title was first published in 2001. The central theme of this book is the activity of the multifarious agencies, local and central government departments, private companies and organizations, which act as prosecutors in the branch of the criminal justice system which deals with 95 per cent of all offences: the magistrates' court. There are over 30 prosecuting organizations (21 are featured in this text) which act regularly in over 400 courthouses in England and Wales. This activity, involving many people and a large amount of resources, accounts for approximately one fifth of all activity in the criminal courts, and yet almost no research has been conducted in this area.

Based on a year's extensive study of all of the organization prosecutions brought before three magistrates' courts in different regions, the text analyzes a number of important issues, including the different approaches taken by the different organizations, their conviction rates, and the type of sentencing used for different sorts of cases.