Editing Prosecutor (section)

==== Prosecutions by other government agencies ====
State investigative agencies such as the [[Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)|Serious Fraud Office]] (SFO) and the [[Financial Conduct Authority]] (FCA), alongside independent prosecutors like the [[Service Prosecuting Authority]], may all bring prosecutions themselves without using the CPS. Nevertheless, these prosecutors will follow the standards set by the Code of Crown Prosecutors alongside their own prosecution policies, which may deal with issues specific to the types of crime they engage with.<ref name=":2" /> There may, at times, be confusion as to which agency is responsible for having brought a prosecution. Which agency is prosecuting may affect whether an offence can be properly tried, as not all agencies can investigate and prosecute all offences. In ''R v Stafford Justices ex parte Customs and Excise Commissioners'' (1991) 2 All ER 201,<ref>{{Cite web |last=dls |date=24 April 2021 |title=Regina v Stafford Justices ex parte Customs and Excise Commissioners: 1991 |url=https://swarb.co.uk/regina-v-stafford-justices-ex-parte-customs-and-excise-commissioners-1991/ |access-date=15 June 2022 |website=swarb.co.uk |language=en-US |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409050045/https://swarb.co.uk/regina-v-stafford-justices-ex-parte-customs-and-excise-commissioners-1991/ |url-status=live }}</ref> it was found by the court that a prosecution is instituted by the police only when they have investigated, arrested and brought the arrested person to the custody officer.<ref name=":1" /> A case is not instituted by the police simply because a custody officer at a police station charges the suspect. Applying the same principle, proceedings are instituted by another prosecuting agency when they have been solely responsible for the investigation and arrest of the suspect, even though the suspect is taken to the police station to be charged by a custody officer.<ref name=":1" />

The CPS advise that another prosecuting authority should probably conduct a case if any of the following factors apply:<ref name=":1" />

* the police did not conduct the majority of the investigation; 
* the police were only involved in overseeing a search, effecting an arrest or assisting other investigators in the conduct of an interview; 
* the other authority is in possession of all the main exhibits; and
* someone other than a police officer is named on the charge sheet as the person accepting the charge or as the officer in the case.<ref name=":1" />