Ancillary orders toolkit - Crown Prosecution Service

4. What is the procedure?The investigators will usually identify a potential assisting offender to theprosecutor and seek advice on his or her suitability to receive a RUU,indicating the range of assistance that is anticipated and the extent ofthe offender's involvement in the offence(s). Applications for RUUs haveto be approved by the Principal Legal Advisor to the DPP or a Head of aCPS Headquarters Casework Division. The offender should normallyhave been 'cleansed' in advance of the RUU agreement being signed,i.e. required to admit all their previous criminality.5. Where can I find further guidance?CPS Legal Guidance: Witness Immunities and Undertakings.Section 72 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.6. Give me an example?Police are investigating a gangland murder allegedly carried out by D.They discover the murder weapon at the home of A, who is D's girlfriend.Several people occupy the premises but A admits she has been hidingthe weapon but says she did so only because of threats to her by D. Sheis willing to give evidence that D gave her the weapon immediately afterthe murder, but not if she risks prosecution for possession of the weaponor for assisting an offender based on her admissions. She has no otherknown involvement in the gang's activities, and is therefore consideredsuitable for an RUU.7. What do I need to watch out for?• The agreement to grant a RUU must be in writing and signed bythe assisting offender and a specified prosecutor of the appropriatelevel of authority.• The written agreement should set out the specific boundaries of theprotection from prosecution that it offers, the conditions to which itis subject, and the consequences (i.e. prosecution) of a failure tocomply with those conditions. It will be very rare for a RUU to begranted without a requirement to give evidence, if courtproceedings follow.• RUUs should be treated as sensitive documents for the purposesof disclosure and a Public Interest Immunity (PII) application maybe necessary to protect their contents in certain cases.Back to Contents