TWO FEATURES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN THE 1980S HAVE BEEN THE

greatly increased emphasis on pre-trial prosecution decision-making and the quest for a more efficient use of scarce resources of time, money and personnel. The publication for the first time of the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth, in 1982 was subtitled 'Guidelines for the making of decisions in the prosecution process and the considerations upon which these decisions are made ' (Australia. Attorney-General's Department 1982). And quite recently, the Directors of Public Prosecutions and senior Crown Prosecutors of the various Australian jurisdictions have agreed upon a common set of prosecutorial guidelines setting out the criteria to be employed when deciding whether or not to prosecute (Victoria. Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions 1991). These guidelines now provide a yardstick against which the operation of a prosecution authority may be evaluated. The continued need for efficiency is more than amply demonstrated by the existence of a deep and long-lasting recession, the growth in the number of lengthy criminal trials and financial pressures on government and legal aid bodies. The task of a prosecution authority is the preparation and prosecution of criminal cases. Central to that task is the decision whether or not to charge and the choice of charge. As the national Prosecutorial Guidelines state: The decision whether or not to prosecute is the most important step in th