Published: 20 Nov 2025
The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS) makes independent and impartial decisions on prosecutions and prosecutes cases in all the criminal Courts in Northern Ireland on behalf of the public. Its performance can be impacted by and can impact on other criminal justice system organisations as well as victims, witnesses and defendants.
This Inspection focused on assessing how well the PPS manages its organisational performance, including setting and measuring performance targets, matching resources to demand, engaging and communicating, utilising staff skills and experience and demonstrating a culture of continuous improvement.
When the PPS was established 20 years ago its governance and accountability structures were focused on safeguarding prosecutorial independence while promoting partnership working and an effective criminal justice system.
In the intervening years, its existing accountability structures have remained the same. It is now timely to now revisit these arrangements, to ensure they are fit for purpose and the PPS’s interests and the challenges it faces, are appropriately represented in and apparent to the Northern Ireland Assembly
The Report calls for the relationship with elected representatives and the information it provides to the Northern Ireland Assembly to be examined. This involves a discussion between the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland and the relevant Ministers.
The PPS’s staff are vital to delivering effective prosecutions across Northern Ireland. They have a pivotal role to play in securing digital transformation, reductions in avoidable delay and better victim and witness support. The organisation’s reliance on redeploying Prosecutors across its Regions and to its Specialist Crime Unit and the increasing use of agency staff and Counsel to prosecute cases in the Courts to manage its staffing and business pressures was a challenge highlighted in the Inspection.
While this has enabled PPS Prosecutors to focus on making prosecution decisions, it presents a reputational risk for the organisation as Court prosecutions are the most public facing aspect of its work.
To mitigate this risk, the Inspection Team have recommended the PPS should design and implement a new framework to measure, assess and quality assure its work and performance in Court.
The PPS also needs to better understand PPS the types and volume of criminal cases files being prepared for submission by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to allow it to plan to meet this demand.
The development of a new People Strategy and Workforce Strategy to enable better management of staff resources and budget is a key recommendation
The PPS 2030 vision provides a strategic vision for the future of the organisation to deliver better outcomes; but to better communicate its results, its progress, its successes and the impact of its work in support of this vision, Inspectors recommended that the PPS develop an Outcomes Framework. This would improve the accountability and transparency of the PPS as well as supporting its PPS 2030 ambitions and show its contribution to the current Programme for Government priorities including Safer Communities, Speeding Up Justice and Ending Violence against Women and Girls.
The Inspection also recommends an increase in digital processes and greater use of technology to improve the organisation’s efficiency.
Inspectors found the number of criminal case files being submitted to the PPS had declined in the last year (2024-25) but were told the cases were increasing in complexity and seriousness. The impact on the length of time taken to make prosecution decisions and prepare cases for Court hearings due to the rise in police body-worn video and other multi-media evidence and the introduction of new legislation, was also mentioned to Inspectors.
This Inspection Report makes three Strategic and four Operational recommendations, which aim to support the PPS as it moves forward in a challenging operating environment and works with criminal justice system partners to deliver transformation, tackle issues like avoidable delay and deliver better victim and witness services and outcomes across the criminal justice system.
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