MACP-33 Response Historic AI-assessed

Establish a rebuttable presumption for prosecution in the public interest test.

Recommendation

That the CPS should consider that, in deciding whether a criminal prosecution should proceed, once the CPS evidential test is satisfied there should be a rebuttable presumption that the public interest test should be in favour of prosecution.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to publicly available information on GOV.UK, content related to "criminal justice reform" and "Courts, sentencing and tribunals" exists, indicating that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) operates under a Code for Crown Prosecutors. While this Code outlines evidential and public interest tests, according to the provided search results, there is no specific evidence detailing whether a rebuttable presumption in favour of prosecution, once the evidential test is satisfied, has been formally incorporated into the public interest test as recommended.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Historic

No government response recorded.

Source
Report Macpherson Inquiry — Final Report 24 Feb 1999
Recommendation age 27.1 yrs
Last formal update No formal updates