Writing in NLJ this week, Nicole Jennings of Peters & Peters explains the framework, published on 31 July 2026.
Reviewing lawyers must provide written reasons for decisions, secure senior endorsement and notify the Special Crime Division, which checks that the process has been followed.
Disclosure takes centre stage: concerns that material undermining the prosecution or assisting the defence will not be disclosed may require CPS intervention.
Costs recovery also demands attention. Courts may consider whether prosecutors approached public authorities first and, in substantial cases, limit reimbursement to comparable public prosecution costs.
Victims may seek review where the CPS takes over and discontinues proceedings, while defendants gain opportunities to make submissions.
Jennings urges practitioners to meet the ‘highest prosecutorial standards’. The underlying right to prosecute and intervention tests remain substantially unchanged.
