Principal Public Prosecutor - Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland

Job description

The Principal Public Prosecutor role is diverse in nature, offering a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. Individual post holders may be asked to lead across a range of PPS activities, including the development of legal policy, engaging with other agencies both nationally and internationally and the provision of specialist / technical legal advice. Principal Public Prosecutors may also be involved in the consideration of cases with a view to taking a prosecution decision. This is a challenging role. Successful candidates will be expected to work independently with only general direction, and to be accountable for quality outcomes. Individuals will often be asked to work on difficult or complex issues, with the aim of achieving solutions which are legally sound. Please see employer website for full job details & person specification.

Responsibilities

• Fraud and Departmental Section - The main purpose of the role is to consider:
• The provision of prosecutorial advice to police (in cases of non-complex fraud) and government departments; The consideration of cases with a view to taking prosecution decisions, in those cases submitted by police and government departments;
• Where there is a decision to prosecute, choosing the appropriate offences to be prosecuted, directing proofs, drafting applications, preparing committal papers and dealing with issues that subsequently arise in those cases,
• including disclosure; and The post holder will be required to fulfil any other duties and responsibilities as determined by management that fall within the remit of the post.
• High Court and International Section - The main purpose and objectives of the role are to draft, action and provide detailed legal advice in relation to the following main areas of work within High Court and International.
• Advising in and having carriage of cases dealing with the restraint and confiscation of suspected criminal assets; Applications for Enforcement in Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) cases; Applications for Extradition; Applications for Mutual Legal
• Consideration of instances of Cases Stated, requests from the Criminal Cases Review Commission, applications for Judicial Review and queries arising from appeals to the Supreme Court;
• Consideration of appeals against conviction and / or sentence to the Court of Appeal; Consideration of cases where civil proceedings have issued against the PPS; and
• Representing the PPS at various inter-agency forums and engaging with other agencies, both nationally and internationally.
• Policy and Information Unit - The post holder has responsibility for:
• Contributing to the development of a wide range of legal policies, for example, in respect of domestic violence and abuse, hate crime and the use of diversionary disposals;
• Developing and delivering legal guidance and advice internally; Researching and analysing the potential impact of policy and service delivery initiatives;
• Contributing to the development of cross-cutting policy and strategy in conjunction with Department of Justice, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service and others;
• Conducting legal quality assurance reviews across a wide range of procedural and organisational issues; and Developing and delivering internal and external training events, for example, for legal staff across the PPS.
• Strategic Improvement Team - The post holder has responsibility for:
• Providing legal advice and guidance on transformation multi-agency projects and service initiatives aligned with PPS key objectives; Development of legal guidance materials to support project implementation, including training delivery;
• Conducting legal quality assurance exercises aligned to project development and implementation; and
• Line Management and professional development of other team members, including day-to-day professional management, to include development, performance, coaching and mentoring.

Skills and Qualifications

Essential Skills

• The Director will designate the successful applicants as Principal Public Prosecutors in pursuance of section 29(5) of Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. Applicants must, by the closing date for applications:
• 1. Be a Barrister or Solicitor who is entitled to practise either at the Bar of Northern Ireland or as a Solicitor of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland.
• Those candidates who are not currently entitled to practise must, prior to taking up appointment, be a Barrister or Solicitor who is entitled to practise either at the Bar of Northern Ireland
• Or as a Solicitor of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland;
• AND 2. Have at least 3 years’ post qualification experience in criminal law, practice and procedure, to include:
• Analysing difficult and complex issues of criminal law; and applying sound judgement and taking decisions to meet tight deadlines;
• AND 3. Have a minimum of 2 years’ post qualification experience of working in a role which required you to act as a prosecutor or prosecution advocate.
• You will be required to provide documentary evidence of your qualifications, therefore, please ensure you have these readily available.

Further Information

Location: Belfast Chambers. NICS Application form only, Vacancy closing date Friday 28th August 2026 at 12 noon. Applications from Protestants, males, young people (people under the age of 35), people with a disability and people from minority ethnic communities are particularly welcomed for this post. The Northern Ireland Civil Service is an Equal Opportunities Employer. All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit. In addition, applicants should be aware that after an eligibility sift, should it be necessary to shortlist candidates to go forward to interview, the following shortlisting criterion will be used: Eligibility Criterion 2. This will be completed on a scored basis and only the highest scoring applicants will proceed to interview. The Panel will complete this assessment against the information provided by applicants in the application form only.