The Charging Decision, step by step
A decision with its own thresholds, taken by prosecutors not courts.
- File reviewThe investigator submits evidence and the prosecutor reviews sufficiency.
- Evidential testIs there a realistic prospect of conviction on admissible evidence?
- Public interest testEven where provable, is prosecution the right response here?
- Charge selectionCharges should reflect the conduct and give adequate sentencing power.
- Continuing reviewThe decision is revisited as the evidence changes.
Educational reference. Test names and thresholds vary by jurisdiction; declining to charge is a decision of equal weight.
Questions about the The Charging Decision poster
- What’s on the The Charging Decision poster?
- 5 numbered steps. A decision with its own thresholds, taken by prosecutors not courts. File review — The investigator submits evidence and the prosecutor reviews sufficiency.; Evidential test — Is there a realistic prospect of conviction on admissible evidence?; Public interest test — Even where provable, is prosecution the right response here?; Charge selection — Charges should reflect the conduct and give adequate sentencing po…; Continuing review — The decision is revisited as the evidence changes.. Educational reference. Test names and thresholds vary by jurisdiction; declining to charge is a decision of equal weight.
- Who is the The Charging Decision poster for?
- The Charging Decision belongs to the Criminal Justice section rather than to a school year, because law & society is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning courts & process can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The Charging Decision poster?
- Use it to see how much of the outcome is settled before any hearing. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The Charging Decision belongs on the wall where that law & society work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The Charging Decision?
- Two Trial Traditions, Appeals and Innocence Claims and Bail and Remand sit alongside The Charging Decision in the Criminal Justice section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Two Trial TraditionsAppeals and Innocence ClaimsBail and Remand
- Is the The Charging Decision poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The Charging Decision downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Criminal Justice section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The Charging Decision poster print at?
- The Charging Decision is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The Charging Decision loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The Charging Decision on the same wall.
Browse every Criminal Justice poster, or start from the full catalogue.