Abstract In England and Wales, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) acts independently of police investigators to determine whether, and what, charges should be brought in a criminal case. With an obligation to represent the public interest, the CPS has traditionally operated as a detached organisation, with a limited role in communicating with victims. Recent years have seen a shift in this respect. This has been particularly acute in rape and serious sexual offence cases, where critical scrutiny has propelled the CPS to acknowledge the need for greater transparency, accountability and engagement with complainants. In this article, we explore this in the context of pilots conducted as part of a performance improvement initiative known as ‘Operation Soteria’. We explore how lawyers responded to requirements to collaborate more closely with Independent Sexual Violence Advisers, who often support victim-survivors, and to communicate more directly and effectively with rape complainants. We identify points of resistance, tied to perceptions of prosecutorial remit or ‘good’ lawyering, and highlight training and wellbeing implications for prosecutors engaging in this qualitatively different way with—often vulnerable—individuals. We reflect on the challenges faced by the CPS in embedding any cultural shift away from its being a ‘faceless institution’.
Munro et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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