CPS Policy on Prosecuting Criminal Cases Involving Children and ...

How we decideWe think carefully about the effect on children and their families when we make thesedecisions. The younger a child is the more careful we will be; Prosecutors' Pledge: 'Takeinto account the impact on the victim or their family when making a charging decision'.There may be several children involved. What is best for one of them may not be best forall of them.There will often be adults involved as well and we have to think how our decisions willaffect them.If a crime against a child is serious, and the evidence is strong enough, we will nearlyalways prosecute. We will always think about the effect on that child of going to court, andmake sure there is good support before, during and after the trial.Listening to childrenWe will always listen carefully to what children have to say about their case and aboutgoing to court.Children can give us their views by telling the police officer, witness supporter or witnesscare officer, who will pass them on to us.In a small number of cases we may have a meeting with a child and his or her parents orcarers to discuss their views or explain why we have made certain decisions.Children's views are important, but in the end we have to make the final decision in cases.We will listen carefully, but we cannot promise to do what children want all the time.Some common concernsVery young childrenThe younger children are, the more careful we have to be about deciding whether it is rightto ask them to become involved in a criminal trial.There are no fixed rules about how old children must be before they can give evidence orbefore we will prosecute a case, but there are practical as well as welfare concerns.All witnesses have to be able to understand questions and be able to give replies that canbe understood; Section 53 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 sets the test forwhether a witness is competent to give evidence. In some areas of the country an'intermediary', who is specially trained to help children communicate, can help them tounderstand and answer questions, if they would find this difficult without help.We will always look at the help we can give children when we decide whether we canprosecute cases.Parents' concernsParents or carers may be concerned about how their children will cope at court. We canhelp by giving them information about the help available for children. There is more detailin the section on supporting child witnesses (below).