What Evidence Does the CPS Need to Charge Someone in the UK?

If you have been arrested, interviewed under caution, or released under investigation, one question dominates every other: what evidence does the CPS need to charge you? The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) applies a defined legal standard to every charging decision, and understanding it shapes how you and your solicitor respond at every stage.

In brief: to charge a suspect, the CPS must apply the Full Code Test and be satisfied that (1) the evidence provides a realistic prospect of conviction, and (2) prosecution is in the public interest. In urgent cases that cannot yet meet that bar, the CPS may charge under the Threshold Test, which has five strict conditions of its own.

What is the Crown Prosecution Service?

The CPS is the principal public prosecutor for England and Wales. Once the police have investigated an alleged offence, the CPS reviews the file, decides whether the suspect should be charged, what offence is appropriate, and then runs the prosecution in court. Every charging decision is made under a published statutory code, the Code for Crown Prosecutors, which sets out the precise tests every charge must pass.

How much evidence does the CPS need to charge someone?

The CPS does not need every piece of available evidence to charge you, but it does need enough to satisfy a defined legal standard. In almost every case, that standard is the Full Code Test: a two-stage assessment of (1) evidential sufficiency and (2) public interest. Where a charging decision genuinely cannot wait, a more limited Threshold Test can apply instead. Both tests are explained below.

What the CPS does not require is proof "beyond reasonable doubt". That is the higher trial standard, applied later by a magistrate or jury. Charging is about whether a court is more likely than not to convict; conviction is about whether it actually does.

The Full Code Test: the CPS standard for charging

The Full Code Test is the default standard. It must be satisfied at the point of charge and reviewed continuously as the case develops. If at any stage the case stops meeting the test, the CPS must discontinue the prosecution.

The evidential stage (realistic prospect of conviction)

At the evidential stage, the prosecutor must be satisfied that there is "sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction" against the suspect on each charge. The Code defines this as evidence on which an objective, impartial and reasonable jury, magistrate or judge, properly directed, would be more likely than not to convict.

The prosecutor weighs both the strength of the evidence and the realistic ways it could be challenged at trial: admissibility, witness reliability, the credibility of the suspect's account, and any defences likely to be run.

The public interest stage

If the evidential stage is met, the prosecutor moves to the public interest. A prosecution will normally follow unless public interest factors against prosecution clearly outweigh those in favour. The factors include the seriousness of the offence, the suspect's culpability and age, the harm caused to any victim, the impact on the community, and whether prosecution is a proportionate response.

What types of evidence does the CPS consider?

The CPS considers all admissible evidence in the file, not just the headline material. In practice, that includes:

• Witness statements: accounts from victims, eyewitnesses, and, in some cases, the suspect.
• Physical and forensic evidence: DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, recovered items.
• CCTV and body-worn footage: from public, commercial, and police cameras.
• Digital evidence: phone downloads, messages, social media activity, IP and cell-site data.
• Expert testimony: medical, accountancy, computer-forensic, or psychiatric reports where relevant.
• Documentary evidence: bank records, business documents, contracts, and official records.

Quantity matters less than coherence. A single reliable witness with strong corroborating evidence (CCTV, a contemporaneous text message, a forensic match) is often stronger than a large file of weaker material.

The Threshold Test: charging before all the evidence is in

In a small number of urgent cases, the police may need to charge before the full file is ready, typically because the suspect is in custody and cannot safely be released on bail. The Threshold Test allows that.

The five conditions of the Threshold Test

All five conditions must be met:

• There are reasonable grounds to suspect the person committed the offence.
• Further evidence is reasonably expected to become available that will, when added, provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
• The seriousness or circumstances of the case justify making an immediate charging decision.
• There are substantial grounds to object to bail under the Bail Act 1976.
• Charging the suspect is in the public interest.

If any one condition fails, the Threshold Test cannot be used, and the suspect must be released or bailed pending further investigation.

Full Code Test vs Threshold Test

The Full Code Test is the rule. The Threshold Test is a narrow exception used only when waiting would be unsafe or impractical. Once a case is charged under the Threshold Test, the CPS must keep reviewing the evidence and apply the Full Code Test as soon as the file is complete. Many cases are discontinued at that point.

Can the police charge someone without the CPS?

Yes, but only for a defined list of less serious offences. For everything else, the police must refer the file to the CPS for a charging decision. The current allocation is set by the Director's Guidance on Charging, issued under Section 37A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE).

Offences the police can charge directly

The police can usually charge:

• Most summary-only road traffic offences.
• Public order offences such as drunk and disorderly.
• Low-value criminal damage suitable for summary trial.
• Many low-level offences that can be dealt with in the Magistrates' Court.

Cases that must always be referred to the CPS

The police must refer to the CPS in cases including:

• Any offence resulting in a death.
• Terrorism offences and breaches of the Official Secrets Acts.
• Hate crime, domestic abuse, and stalking cases.
• Sexual offences (and any sexual offence involving a complainant under 18).
• Serious violence such as grievous bodily harm (GBH) and actual bodily harm (ABH), where the case is destined for the Crown Court.
• Any case requiring the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Attorney General.

For more on the police side of the decision, see our guide on whether the police can press charges without the victim's consent.

What happens after the CPS decides to charge?

If the CPS authorises a charge, the police charge you formally and the case is listed at the Magistrates' Court, usually within a few days. Depending on the offence and the strength of the case, you may be released on bail, granted unconditional bail, or remanded in custody to the first hearing.

From this point, your case has a court file, an assigned CPS prosecutor, and a duty on the CPS to disclose the evidence under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996. Securing experienced criminal defence at the earliest possible point shapes everything that follows: bail, plea, disclosure, and trial preparation.

What if there is not enough evidence to charge?

If the evidential stage of the Full Code Test is not met, the CPS will not authorise a charge. In practice, that produces one of four outcomes: the case is dropped (no further action), the police are asked to obtain specific further evidence, a lesser charge is considered, or an out-of-court disposal (such as a conditional caution) is offered.

A case that has already been charged can also fall away later if disclosure undermines the prospects of conviction. For a fuller breakdown of the routes to a case being dropped after charge, see our guide on how to get the CPS to drop the charges against you.

Charging threshold vs "beyond reasonable doubt" at trial

These two standards are routinely confused. The CPS charges when, on the available evidence, a properly directed court would be more likely than not to convict. That is roughly equivalent to a "balance of probabilities" view, applied prospectively. It is deliberately lower than the trial standard.

At trial, the prosecution must then prove the case "beyond reasonable doubt" or, in modern jury directions, make the magistrate or jury "sure". A case can therefore comfortably pass the charging threshold and still result in an acquittal at trial. The gap between the two standards is one of the main reasons the early stages of a case matter so much: the right challenges, made at the right time, can prevent a charge ever being authorised.

Frequently asked questions

Can the CPS charge you without any evidence?

No. The CPS cannot charge a suspect with no evidence at all. Every charging decision must satisfy at least the Threshold Test, which itself requires reasonable grounds to suspect and a realistic expectation of further evidence. A complete absence of evidence will not pass either test.

How long does the CPS take to make a charging decision?

There is no fixed statutory deadline, but most decisions are made within days or weeks of the police submitting a full file. Complex serious cases (fraud, sexual offences, large-scale violence) can take many months. While a decision is pending, you may be released under investigation or on police bail.

Can the CPS drop charges after you have been charged?

Yes. The CPS has a continuing duty to apply the Full Code Test, and must discontinue the case if either the evidential or public interest stage no longer holds. Common triggers include retracted witness evidence, fresh disclosure that undermines the case, or expert reports that do not support the prosecution.

What happens if the police want to charge but the CPS refuses?

The police cannot charge a CPS-referral offence without CPS authority. If the CPS refuses, the police can submit further evidence and ask for a review, or accept a different outcome. Suspects are typically released, bailed pending further inquiries, or have the case formally closed.

Is "insufficient evidence" the same as being innocent?

No. "Insufficient evidence" is a prosecutorial finding that the case will not meet the charging or trial standard, not a finding of fact about innocence. In practice, it means no charge will be authorised, or any existing charge will be discontinued, but the legal record does not declare a person innocent.

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