Prosecutors in rape cases will meet complainants face-to-face if defendants plead not guilty, under new plans designed to cut the number of women who withdraw from the trial process. The number of rape prosecutions in England and Wales dropped by 70 percent between 2017 and 2022 and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is concerned about…

The Alberta government says it hasn’t found any records of emails that could substantiate the allegations that a staffer for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had contacted prosecutors in an attempt to influence their handling of a case related to a group charged during the Coutts border blockade last year. The Justice Department said in a…

The government has said that it was “inappropriate” for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to argue that parts of the Bible are “no longer appropriate in modern society” in a now-dropped prosecution against a British Christian street preacher. In the House of Lords in December, Baroness Hoey asked the government what assessment they have made…

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a legal challenge after several judges released suspects on bail because delays caused by the barristers’ strike meant they had exceeded their custody time limits. The CPS has been granted the right to have a judicial review of at least three cases where judges rejected an application by…

The Director of Public Prosecutions has appointed a controversial transgender activist to a key diversity role at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Sophie Cook, a transgender woman who was a Labour Party candidate at the 2017 general election, has been appointed to a new role as the CPS’s “speak-out champion.” But the appointment by the…

A “predatory” retiree who sexually abused 11 children in Burma after travelling to the country for a guided cycling tour has been jailed. Christopher Behn, 66, was found in possession of more than 250 indecent images of children on his laptop, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He was sentenced to six years in…