18. In this investigation, as the allegations of child sexual abuse involving Lord Janner have not been proven by way of criminal conviction or civil findings, we refer to the individuals making the allegations as complainants.

19. The complaints made against Lord Janner involved allegations of offending that was said to have been committed many years, if not decades, earlier. The Sexual Offences Act 1956 was then the predominant legislation and referred to offences of indecent assault and buggery.^[1] On 1 May 2004, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force, which created a wide number of new offences. It included specific offences for sexual acts committed against children under 13 years of age, and an increase in maximum sentences for a number of offences.^[2] It also replaced the offence of indecent assault with sexual assault, and a non-consensual act of buggery is now charged as rape. Some of the allegations made against Lord Janner came to the police’s attention many years ago, and so we considered the law and any guidance that was applicable at the relevant time.

20. The structures and decision-making processes of both the police and prosecuting authorities have changed over the course of the various investigations concerning Lord Janner.

20.1. The police: there are 43 police forces in England and Wales, which are typically headed by a chief constable. The chief constable will be assisted by a deputy chief constable and a number of assistant chief constables. An assistant chief constable is responsible for overseeing one or more departments within a police force. Most police forces now have a specialist unit responsible for investigating child sexual abuse, often referred to as the Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) or the Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU). The CAIT/CAIU is responsible for investigating the allegation and submitting a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision on whether to prosecute the suspect. A number of the police witnesses referred to in this investigation have since been promoted or have retired from the police. Where applicable, for ease of reference, they are referred to by the rank they were at the relevant time.

20.2. The Crown Prosecution Service: the independent body responsible for prosecuting cases investigated by the police in England and Wales. It was established by statute in 1986, which set out that its functions included taking over the conduct of criminal proceedings instituted by the police, giving advice to the police, deciding whether to prosecute and conducting a prosecution after the police decided to charge a suspect. Prior to this, the police were responsible for investigating most crimes, deciding whether to prosecute and conducting the prosecution. Since 2004, the Crown Prosecution Service has made charging decisions in all but minor cases. Its decisions are made in accordance with The Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code), as well as its guidance such as Guidelines on Prosecuting Cases of Child Sexual Abuse. The Crown Prosecution Service has 14 regional teams prosecuting cases locally, each of which is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor. We refer in this report to the area team for Leicestershire as the Leicestershire Crown Prosecution Service. Its Central Casework Divisions at CPS Headquarters deal with the most complex cases, including, for example, organised crime, terrorism, and serious and complex fraud.