Downing Street plans rape prosecution targets for police and CPS

Exclusive: unusual intervention aims to reverse decline and bring more cases to trial

• Why are rape case targets being planned in England and Wales?

Downing Street is planning a controversial intervention to reverse the record decline in rape prosecutions by imposing targets on police and prosecutors, the Guardian has learned.

In a highly unusual move, the prime minister’s crime and justice taskforce is planning to set targets for police to refer more high-quality rape cases to the Crown Prosecution Service and for the CPS to prosecute and bring more rape cases to trial.

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