David Malone, Deputy Head of the Specialist Fraud Division at the CPS, with Prof Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, in the criminal practice lecture on “criminal trials”.

David Malone, Deputy Head of the Specialist Fraud Division at the Crown Prosecution Service (and leading barrister at Red Lion Chambers), introduced Goldsmiths students to guiding principles on Prosecuting in criminal trials, as part of criminal practice lectures that run parallel to lectures on the theory of criminal law in Year 1 of the LLB.

David touched upon what verdicts mean for victims, and how important it is for them to have their “day in court”; the  central role of the Full Code Test for prosecutions; rules of evidence in criminal trials; the importance of creating a rapport with the jury in the environment of the criminal trial; and the challenges in prosecuting (or defending) historic sexual offences, among other topics that he discussed.

David also spoke with great enthusiasm about the CPS as an employer, particularly its strong desire for diversity and inclusion, stressing the unique career opportunities available there, strongly encouraging our students to consider a future at the CPS.

Earlier on in the term, Mr Curt Wise, Senior Specialist Prosecutor at the CPS (Specialist Fraud Division), spoke to students in detail about initiating criminal prosecutions, providing analysis of the various factors that prosecutors must take into account, and drawing, on the (virtual) whiteboard, the various steps in the thought process that prosecutors must undertake before making up their mind about whether to proceed with a prosecution.

Our law programme is delighted to inject views from the CPS, and draw on their experience, when teaching criminal law theory and practice to students at the LLB Law and LLB Law with Criminal Justice and Human Rights programmes.

We are very thankful to the CPS for their interest in our programme and are greatly looking forward to seeing this collaboration progress further.