Police caution
A police caution is a formal alternative to prosecution in minor cases, administered by the police and other law enforcement agencies in England and Wales, and in Hong Kong. It is commonly used to resolve cases where full prosecution is not seen as the most appropriate solution.
Purpose
A police caution administered for the purpose of disposing of a criminal offence should not be confused with the caution used for the purpose of advising a suspect of their right to silence.[1] A police caution (more properly known as a simple caution) is given by the police and is a non-statutory disposal for adult offenders.
The purposes of a formal police caution are:[2]
- to allow the police and crown prosecution service in the case of large crimminal cases to deal quickly with low to mid level offenders allowing time and resources to be focused on the most serious offenders;
- to deal quickly and simply with less serious offenders;
- to divert them from unnecessary appearance in the criminal courts; and
- to reduce the chances of their re-offending.
Types of cautions
As a result of changes made by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, cautions can be administered in two forms: as a simple caution or as a conditional caution, which has specific conditions attached that the offender must satisfy—attending a course aimed at targeting offending behaviour, for example. The Home Office has released guidance to the police and prosecutors on the use of the simple caution.[3][4]
Circumstances for use
According to the Home Office, a police caution is a formal warning given to adults who admit they are guilty of first-time minor offences, such as vandalism or petty theft. According to the Magistrates' Association, a minor offence is one triable only summarily.[5] Cautions are not given to young offenders (those aged 17 and under), who instead are given 'reprimands' and 'final warnings'.
According to the Home Office, a police caution does form a part of a person's criminal record.[6] A caution may adversely affect both employment and travel prospects.[7] A caution may be considered in court in the event of the offender being tried for a similar offence. A caution remains in police records along with photographs, fingerprints and any other samples taken at the time, although cautions (including reprimands and warnings) are covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 so will become spent immediately (apart from conditional cautions which will become spent after 3 months).[8] Simple cautions normally expire after 5 years whereas conditional cautions expire after the designated conditions are met. Although simple cautions can show up on CRB checks, records of simple cautions may be deleted after five years if no convictions are on record, although records are often retained longer or indefinitely in practice.
A caution is intended to act as a first official warning and to deter people from getting involved in crime.
As of 2008, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 has been extended to cover police cautions, which are thereof considered to be expunged (spent) as soon as they are given.[9]
Administration
Police and other enforcement agencies such as Local Authorities and Government departments have the power to administer a simple caution, while conditional cautions only be administered only by the police or a person authorised by a relevant prosecutor. However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a role to play in helping the police to ensure that the Home Office Guidelines on the Cautioning of Offenders[2] are applied consistently and fairly.
CPS officers are instructed to refer to the police any case in which they consider a caution is the appropriate way of handling the offence. Where the CPS remains satisfied that a caution is appropriate but the police refuse to administer one, the CPS guidance recommends that the case is not accepted for the prosecution.
In order to safeguard the offender's interests, the following conditions must be met before a caution can be administered:
- there must be evidence of guilt sufficient to give a realistic prospect of conviction;
- the offender must admit the offence;
- the offender must understand the significance of a caution and give informed consent to being cautioned.
Where the available evidence does not meet the standard normally required to bring a prosecution, a caution cannot be administered. A caution will not be appropriate where a person does not make a clear and reliable admission of the offence (for example if intent is denied or there are doubts about his mental health or intellectual capacity).
The Home Office recommends that cautions should never be used for the most serious offences (indictable-only offences). However, cautions are given for indictable-only offences.[citation needed] The CPS suggests that this might be a result of the police issuing a caution for the offence that was reported or first suspected, rather than the offence that is revealed by the evidence at the end of the investigation.[10] However, a caution must be administered and recorded for the correct offence, that is, for the offence revealed by the evidence. The CPS goes on to say that it will only be in rare circumstances that a caution will be a suitable disposition for an indictable offence.
Cautions can be administered in the case of an offence that is triable either-way or summarily.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ A police caution administered to a suspect upon arrest may be phrased as: "You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"
- ^ a b Home Office Circular 18/1994
- ^ Home Office Circular Simple Cautioning of Adult Offenders
- ^ Home Office Simple Caution explained leaflet
- ^ Response to Breaking the Circle: A report of the Review of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, The Magistrates' Association, Criminal Justice System Committee.
- ^ [1] section 34
- ^ [2] sections 37 and 43.
- ^ Ask The Police Q562: What is a police caution and how long does it last?
- ^ Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, Schedule 10
- ^ Crown Prosecution Service Legal Guidance
- ^ Guidance to Police Officers and Crown Prosecutors Issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, section 9.1 "Where the police consider that the Threshold Test is met in a case, other than an indictable only offence, and determine that it is in the public interest instead to administer a simple caution, or to administer a reprimand or final warning in the case of a youth, the police may issue that caution, reprimand or final warning as appropriate, without referring the case to a Crown Prosecutor."
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