Prosecutions
(asked on 4th September 2025) - View Source
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has discontinued in the last three years; and for what reasons.
Management information held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) shows the number of defendants whose prosecution was dropped by the CPS and the primary reason allocated to the outcome at finalisation.
The table below shows the number and proportion of prosecutions dropped and the reason applied for the latest available three years ending March 2025.
| 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 |
Total Prosecutions | 402,052 | 419,401 | 449,573 |
Prosecutions Dropped | 45,674 | 46,794 | 49,553 |
Prosecutions Dropped % of Total Prosecutions | 11.4% | 11.2% | 11.0% |
Victim or witness reasons | 13,334 | 13,023 | 14,160 |
Victim or witness reasons % of Total Prosecutions | 3.3% | 3.1% | 3.1% |
Victim reasons | 10,426 | 10,479 | 11,351 |
Victim reasons % of Total Prosecutions | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.5% |
Witness reasons | 2,908 | 2,544 | 2,809 |
Witness reasons % of Total Prosecutions | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
Disclosure - undermining unused material | 1,637 | 2,185 | 2,067 |
Disclosure - undermining unused material % of Total Prosecutions | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.5% |
Evidential | 18,572 | 19,251 | 19,622 |
Evidential % of Total Prosecutions | 4.6% | 4.6% | 4.4% |
Public interest | 11,510 | 11,720 | 12,886 |
Public interest % of Total Prosecutions | 2.9% | 2.8% | 2.9% |
Other | 621 | 615 | 818 |
Other % of Total Prosecutions | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||