Prosecution

The prosecution of offenders in England and Wales

is the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service.

It was set up in 1986 to prosecute criminal cases resulting

from police investigations. The Head of the CPS is the

Director of Public Prosecutions. Over 2,000 of these staff

are barristers or solicitors

After the Police have investigated a crime and passed the

papers to the CPS, one of the lawyers – called a Crown

Prosecutor - carefully reviews the papers to decide whether

or not to go ahead with the case. The prosecutor's decision

is based on the two tests set out in the Code for Crown

Prosecutors.

The code is a booklet, which sets out the general principles

which prosecutors must apply when they decide whether to

continue a case.

A case has to pass both these tests before the CPS can start

or continue a prosecution.

The prosecutor must think carefully about all the factors for

and against a prosecution, and assess in each case whether a

prosecution should go ahead.

Crown Prosecutors must always think very carefully about

the interest of the victim of the crime. This is an important

factor when prosecutors decide where the public interest lies.

If the prosecutor thinks that there is enough evidence, and that a

prosecution is needed in the public interest, the case is then

presented in the magistrates' court.

The CPS lawyer must present the facts to the court fairly.

Criminal cases are divided into the following three types of

offence.

- «Summary only- «Either way» «Indictable only» offences

If a defendant is found not guilty, he or she cannot be prosecuted

for the same offence. This applies to all types of case.

The police service and the state

England, Wales and Northern Ireland are part of the

United Kingdom, a group of islands situated off the

west coast of mainland Europe.

Scotland is in the northern part of the main island and

has a police organisation similar to that of England and

Wales had a different legal system.

The Metropolitan Police is responsible for the Greater

London Area, and is the largest police force.

Control of police forces is based upon a tripartite relationship

between central government, the local Police Authority and

the chief officer of police.

Police officers are not employees of the state or of local

government. At the same time, like any other citizen, they

are answerable to both the ordinary criminal and civil law.

as well as to the police disciplinary procedures.

The Home Secretary has responsibility to promote and

maintain the effectiveness of police forces and has a range

of powers. An important power is to determine annually the

key operational objectives for police forces.

A number of inspectors known as «Her Majesty's Inspectors

of Constabulary» (HMIC) assist the Home Secretary in the

maintenance of efficiency and effectiveness. The police forces

are divided into five regions.

The Police Authority has a range of duties and responsibilities.

It must secure the maintenance of an efficient and effective

police force fur its area. It must determine local policing

objectives set by the Home Secretary. Police Authority appoints

the chief officers and is the disciplinary authority for those ranks.

The Chief Constable is responsible for the direction and control

of the police force. The Chief Constable is the disciplinary authority

for all ranks up to, and including, the superintending ranks.

The judicial system of Ukraine

is outlined in the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine.

Although judicial independence exist in principle,

in practice there is little separation of juridical and

political powers. Judges are subjected to pressure

by political and business interests.

The judicial system of Ukraine consists of four levels

of courts of general jurisdiction, as follows:

Local "general" courts (combining criminal and civil

jurisdiction)

Local specialized courts (either commercial or

administrative jurisdiction)

Appellate courts (combining criminal and civil

jurisdiction

Appellate specialized courts (either commercial

or administrative jurisdiction)

The High Specialized Court on Civil and Criminal

Cases, covering civil and criminal cases;

The High Administrative Court of Ukraine, covering

administrative cases;

The High Commercial Court of Ukraine, covering economic

and commercial cases.

Supreme Court is the highest court within the system of

courts of general jurisdiction, conducting the review re

unequal application of the rules of substantive law by the

cassation courts and subject to cases when international

judicial institution the jurisdiction of which is recognized by

Ukraine has established the violation of international

obligations by Ukraine.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a special body with

authority to assess whether legislative acts of the Parliament,

President, Cabinet or Crimean Parliament are in line with the

Constitution of Ukraine. This Court also gives commentaries

to certain norms of the Constitution or laws of Ukraine

(superior acts of Parliament).