Frontline Matters

Guidance on the use of out-of-court disposals

This booklet provides a framework for police officers to use when exercising their discretion about the appropriate and proportionate use of out-of-court disposals for adults who have committed non-motoring criminal offences. This booklet summarises guidance on individual disposals in order to assist officers where appropriate.

Out-of-court disposals leaflet for adult offenders

This leaflet, aimed at adult offenders, explains in plain English each of the disposals currently available and how they may affect them. To order hard copies, please email your request to the Prolog ordering system or ring 0870 241 4680. For information on the different versions available, read the news story.

Guidance on the use of conditional cautions

The following links provide a framework for the use of conditional cautions for adults. The statutory Code of Practice (revised in January 2010) is primarily aimed at the police and the CPS – although where appropriate, references to the police should be read as including other authorised persons, and references to the CPS as including other relevant prosecutors. The DPP's guidance sets out the Director of Public Prosecution's guidelines for police officers and Crown prosecutors (6th edition issued in January 2010).

Guidance on the use of youth conditional cautions
The following guidance on youth conditional cautions is currently being tested in five areas. As above, they provide a framework for the use of conditional cautions, but for 16 and 17 year olds.

Evidence base on conditional cautions

The following documents provide some insight into the evidence base behind the use of conditional cautions. The first, carried out by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform in conjunction with Glamorgan University, assesses the operation of conditional cautioning across 13 early implementation areas in England between December 2004 and November 2005. The second provides a summary of the responses to the consultation paper on a revised code of practice for conditional cautions. The third presents the key findings from a small-scale survey of victim satisfaction with the conditional caution scheme in one area.

Home Office circular on simple cautions

These two circulars provide guidance for police and prosecutors on the use of simple cautions. HO Circular 16/2008 applies to all decisions made on or after 10 July 2008, and HO Circular 30/2005 to all decisions made prior to that date.

Information on penalty notices for disorder

This link will take you to the Home Office Police website's page on penalty notices for disorder. It explains the powers created by the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 for police to issue penalty notices to people aged 16 or over. It also contains links to the police operational guidance and FAQs.