Senior Crown Prosecutor

Senior crown prosecutors are highly trained, experienced lawyers with excellent people skills and a passion for delivering justice. This role is largely office-based. You’re responsible for reviewing evidence and making decisions on whether a case should be prosecuted – in line with our Code for Crown Prosecutors. You’re based in one of three units – magistrates’ court, Crown Court or rape and serious sexual offences – depending on your experience level.

You represent the Crown Prosecution Service on the frontline, collaborating closely with colleagues and other criminal justice agencies, including the police and judiciary. You play a vital role in maintaining public confidence in our work.

You benefit from a structured induction four-month training plan and opportunities to shadow colleagues across the organisation. Once you gain further experience, you have options to progress into legal manager and crown advocate roles. 

Find out what our senior crown prosecutors say about working at the CPS by visiting cps.gov.uk/careers/prosecutor.

Your roles and responsibilities:

• To advise police and other investigators on casework and evidence requirements for a wide range of offences.
• To review case files and charging decisions, providing legal advice and making the final decision, based on evidence, on whether prosecutions should proceed on cases for the magistrates’ and Crown Court.
• To undertake advocacy in relation to serious and sensitive cases in the magistrates’ courts including Youth Courts, not guilty anticipated plea court lists, and multi-day trials.
• To explain our decisions clearly to stakeholders including magistrates, counsel, victims, witnesses and the police.
• To work effectively as part of a multi-skilled team and maintain up-to-date knowledge of criminal offences.

Each CPS area has a Crown Court, magistrates’ court, and a rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) team. As a senior crown prosecutor, you’re expected to be able to work in any of these teams although we do take into account your experience and, where possible, your personal preference before placing you in a team.    

Whichever team you join, you’re supported with a detailed training and induction plan to cover your first four months with CPS.   

Working in our Crown Court team, you have a personal caseload of serious casework. You give charging advice to the police on cases to be heard in the Crown Court, working with our paralegal officers and with counsel to prepare cases for court.    

In our magistrates’ court team, you are an advocate dealing with the full range of courts including trial courts. You have a personal caseload, giving pre-charge advice to the police on magistrates’ court cases and you prepare cases for court. You may work on a specialist team such as a domestic abuse or youth team.  

In our RASSO team, you have a personal caseload comprising rape and serious sexual offences. You give charging and early indicative advice to the police on RASSO cases, working with our paralegal staff and counsel to prepare cases for court.

• You must be a qualified practising lawyer with criminal law experience. 
• You must demonstrate your commitment to public service, making a difference to the communities we serve and our CPS values. 
• You’re focused on personal development and career progression. 

Legally qualified: You must be a qualified practising solicitor or barrister holding a valid Practising Certificate for England and Wales.

Academic: You must have a law degree, Common Professional Examination and/or Graduate Diploma in Law.

Professional: You must have completed a Legal Practice Course, Solicitors Qualifying Exam or Bar Professional Training Course and the relevant pupillage and training contract – or have received full exemption from the relevant professional regulatory body, either the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Bar Standards Board.

or
CILEx: You must be a Fellow of CILEx and a CILEx Advocate/Litigator holding all three advocacy certificates providing you with a ‘general qualification’ within the meaning of s.71 (3) (c) Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. You must have a right of audience in relation to any class of proceedings in any part of the Senior Courts, or all proceedings in county courts or magistrates' courts in order to meet the requirements for a Crown Prosecutor specified by section 1 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. If you don’t hold this CILEx qualification, you’re not eligible to apply for this vacancy. If you’re unsure whether you have qualified through CILEx, contact us to establish your eligibility for this role.

If you apply and are found not to possess any of the above, any offer of employment will be withdrawn, or contract terminated.

Equivalent qualifications won’t be accepted. If you’re unsure about your eligibility please contact NationalLawyerRecruitment@cps.gov.uk

The eligibility criteria must be met by Monday 2 December 2024. If you’re able to obtain a valid Practising Certificate and will be fully qualified by this date, you’re eligible to apply.
Should there be any restrictions or special arrangements regarding your Practising certificate, we would ask you to inform us at the earliest opportunity, via email.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• You must have a law degree, Common Professional Examination and/or Graduate Diploma in law.
• You must have completed a Legal Practice Course, Solicitors Qualifying Exam or Bar Vocational Course/Bar Professional Training Course and the relevant pupillage or training contract.
• You must be a qualified barrister or solicitor.
• You must demonstrate motivation.
• You must demonstrate sufficient legal intellect

We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home, and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. We have a hybrid working policy. From September 2024, you must spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.

Delivering justice is a complex pursuit with work that is sometimes emotionally challenging, which is why we offer a range of benefits including: 
 

• a Civil Service contributory pension of up to 27% 
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years 
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday 
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave 
• flexible working and a family-friendly approach to work 
• a Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings 
• a range of learning and development activities, an individual learning account, and central and local development opportunities.