L'organizzazione e le funzioni dell'ufficio del Pubblico Ministero in Inghilterra e Galles

Following the conclusions and proposals in early 1981 by the Royal Commission pre- sided over by Lord Cyril Philips a profound reform took place in England and Wales on the conduction, and the related responsibilities, of criminal proceedings which led to the approval four years later of the Prosecution of Offences Act, that came into effect in 1986. The Act upheld most of the suggestions from the Philips Commission and set up an entirely independent body, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), tasked with the institution of criminal proceedings and the charge of persons accused of specific offences in the aftermath of the preliminary investigating stage that, as in the past, was entirely the responsibility of police forces throughout the land. The reform resulted in a new idea of how, when and why criminal charges were to be brought by an entirely novel public service headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) directly appointed for 5 years by the Attorney General to whom he/she is answerable. That put an end to the previous tradition which called for police forces to be altogether competent both for investigations and charges. The 1985 Act also provided for the creation of a number of local areas where the CPS can operate through Crown Prosecutors appointed by the DPP with the same powers as his/her. This change of mood brought about the duty of the CPS to periodically revise his/her own Code for Public Prosecutors set- ting out the complex framework within which the service is carried out in terms of institution, conduction, discontinuance of criminal proceedings in England and Wales. This essay tends to demonstrate the originality and independence of the figure of the Public Prosecutor in those countries to such an extent as to render it hardly comparable, if not for single and limited aspects, to any other experience in civil law legal systems of Western Europe.