Commentary Public Prosecution Service Section 37: Code for Prosecutors
71.Under the provisions in this section the Director must publish a Code of Practice for Public Prosecutors and barristers and solicitors conducting cases for the Director. This would incorporate a code of ethics. The Code of Practice would contain guidance on the general principles to be applied by Prosecutors in the matters set out in subsection (3), such as the grounds on which the Prosecutor would make the decision to prosecute (the evidential and public interest tests); for what charge; and on what grounds proceedings would be discontinued. When preparing the code, the Director must be guided by the general principles of the UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors (subsection (5)). The code will be published (subsection (6)). Section 38 requires the code to be included in the Director’s annual report.