Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the Code for Crown Prosecutors, how many and what proportion of joint enterprise (a) homicide, and (b) attempted homicide charges in the Crown Prosecution Service Joint Enterprise Pilot 2023 that used the Threshold Test subsequently recorded an application of the Full Code Test.

The methodology of the Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”) Joint Enterprise Pilot 2023 (the “Joint Enterprise Pilot”) is set out on the CPS website: Crown Prosecution Service Joint Enterprise Pilot 2023: Data Analysis | The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk).

The methodology involved the application of a local ‘flag’ to joint enterprise homicide and attempted homicide cases which were then manually reviewed and certain case features counted. The number of cases in which the Threshold Test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors was applied was not counted during the Joint Enterprise Pilot and it is not possible to extract further management information from the local ‘flag’ centrally.

Informed by the results of the Joint Enterprise Pilot, the CPS has updated its case management system in order to commence a full national monitoring scheme in the spring. A new mandatory national Joint Enterprise Monitoring Code ‘flag’ will enable the CPS to extract management information from such cases centrally, including whether the Threshold Test was applied when a defendant was charged.

The Code for Crown Prosecutors is clear that the Threshold Test may only be applied after a rigorous examination of its five conditions. This ensures that it is only applied when necessary and that cases are not charged prematurely. Any decision to charge under the Threshold Test must be kept under review and the Full Code Test must be applied as soon as practicable.