Powers used to expedite charges during the summer riots of 2024 will be deployed by the Crown Prosecution Service to tackle anti-Jewish hate crime.
Prosecutions of antisemitic crimes are set to be fast-tracked in response to the surge in attacks against the Jewish community.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said he hoped the CPS moves would help to “prosecute antisemitic hate crimes and make British Jews feel safe again”.
Writing in the JC, Parkinson said that meant the service would now make charging decisions “as soon as we have the core evidence” and would be “working closely with investigators to resolve any issues stopping us from charging”.
The new “fast-track” guidance for prosecutors addressing Jew-hate allows them to charge a suspect before obtaining any supporting evidence – provided the evidential threshold is met.
It means that prosecutors could make a charging decision based on a victim’s account and a description or photographs of injuries, or medical records, in assault cases.
“We know this approach works as we brought it in during our response to the national disorder in 2024, which led to the disorder stopping,” he said.
During the 2024 riots, the CPS operated a round-the-clock charging service, pushed for immediate prosecutions and, in some cases, provided police officers on the ground with instant charging advice. It is not clear whether similar measures will now be used to combat anti-Jewish hate.
Parkinson also announced that every senior prosecutor, along with “many frontline staff”, would receive “mandatory training on the subject to enhance awareness of how antisemitism can manifest, as well as sharing best practice”.
However, former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis KC has criticised the measures as “missed opportunity” that will “do nothing to address” the crux of misjudged CPS decisions and is calling for the CPS to go further by establishing a specialist antisemitism unit.
Ellis has repeatedly advocated for a specialist antisemitism unit to improve the response to anti-Jewish hate crime.
He told the JC this week: “For many months I’ve called for speedy justice for antisemitism offences, so I welcome that announcement – but frankly a major part of the problem has been the repeated failures in the CPS’s decision-making process which expedited hearings will do nothing to address.
“I am not calling for the CPS to lower their standards, just apply them properly. They have missed an opportunity to create a specialist antisemitism unit within the CPS.
“After nearly three years confidence has been lost, and training should have been done ages ago. An antisemitism unit will quickly address the concerns and be more likely to make appropriate decisions as to how and when to prosecute."
Polling published by Campaign Against Antisemitism in January 2025 found that just 16 per cent of British Jews were confident that reported antisemitic crimes would be prosecuted.
The CPS has urged victims and witnesses of anti-Jewish hate crimes to report incidents to the police.
“Prosecutors can only take action when a case is referred to us from the police. If you are a victim of antisemitism or see it, report it to the police so it can be investigated and passed to us for a charging decision,” Parkinson said.
A CPS spokesperson said: “We recognise the significant impact recent antisemitic attacks have had on the Jewish community.
“This week, CPS prosecutors have been given new legal guidance requiring them to make swift charging decisions on these cases when they have the core evidence to do so.
“This means prosecutors will work faster than ever to get these cases to court and bring those who commit antisemitic crime to justice – allowing any supporting evidence to be gathered later in the process.
“Antisemitism has no place in our society, and we will work with police to pursue all those who commit it with the full force of the law."
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