New director of public prosecutions appointed
updated on 26 July 2013
Alison Saunders will become the new director of public prosecutions (DPP) on 1 November 2013, as Keir Starmer QC stands down at the end of his five-year term.
Saunders will be the first DPP to be appointed from within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the second women to hold the post. Dominic Grieve QC, the attorney general, said the internal appointment was proof "of the high quality of the professionals" in the CPS.
Saunders is currently the chief crown prosecutor for London, a role that has involved overseeing the conviction of Stephen Lawrence's killers and prosecution of offenders in the 2011 London riots. Her career began with pupillage in a common law set, before working at Lloyds of London and subsequently the CPS. She has acted as chief crown prosecutor for Sussex, as well as the head of the CPS’s organised crime division.
The Guardian reports that concern has been raised in response to Saunders' appointment by the families of the Hillsborough disaster victims. As a lawyer in the attorney general's office in 1996, Saunders advised against allowing a new inquest into the deaths. In her new role as DPP, she will be responsible for authorising any new investigations into the disaster, in addition to deciding whether any criminal charges should be brought against individuals or organisations.
