Editing Crown Prosecution Service (section)

{{Short description|Principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Crown Prosecution Service
| logo            = Crown Prosecution Service logo.svg
| logo_width      = 125
| formed          = 1 October 1986
| jurisdiction    = [[England and Wales]]
| headquarters    = [[102 Petty France]], [[Westminster]], [[London]], England
| region_code     = GB
| employees       = 5,794 (2019/20)<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual Report and Accounts 2019–21|url=https://www.cps.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/publications/CPS-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2019-20.pdf |website=Crown Prosecution Service |access-date=22 April 2021}}</ref>
| budget          = £592 million (2012–13){{r|AnnualReport}}
| minister1_name  = [[Richard Hermer|The Lord Hermer]]
| minister1_pfo   = [[Attorney General for England and Wales]]
| chief1_name     = [[Stephen Parkinson (lawyer)|Stephen Parkinson]]
| chief1_position = [[Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)|Director of Public Prosecutions]]
| chief2_name = Julie Lennard
| chief2_position = Chief Operating Officer
| parent_department = 
| website         = {{Official URL}}
| agency_type     = [[Non-ministerial government department]]
}}

{{CourtsEnglandWales}}

The '''Crown Prosecution Service''' ('''CPS''') is the principal public agency for conducting criminal [[Prosecutor|prosecution]]s in [[England and Wales]]. It is headed by the [[Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)|Director of Public Prosecutions]].

The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advice to the [[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom|police and other investigative agencies]] during the course of criminal investigations, to decide whether a suspect should face criminal charges following an investigation, and to conduct prosecutions both in the [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]]s and the [[Crown Court]].

The [[Attorney General for England and Wales]] superintends the CPS's work and answers for it in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]], although the Attorney General has no influence over the conduct of prosecutions, except when [[national security]] is an issue or for a small number of offences that require the Attorney General's permission to prosecute.