Paragraph 142 of the Hunt Report specifically addressed prosecutions, stating:
‘It is the practice in Northern Ireland that prosecutions in the lower courts are undertaken by police officers and that the police decide, sometimes after taking legal advice, when prosecutions should be undertaken. While it is the unmistakable duty of the police to make offenders amenable to the law, the impartiality of the police to make offenders amenable to the law may be questioned if they are responsible for deciding who shall be prosecuted and thereafter for acting in court as prosecutor. This practice can result also in a mistaken impression of the relationship between the courts and the police. We therefore recommend (sic.) that the Scottish system of independent public prosecutors should be adopted; under this the police are responsible only for the collection of information about offences, all subsequent action with regard to prosecution being undertaken by a solicitor in the public service. In Northern Ireland this might be the Chief Crown Solicitor, but further study than we have been able to give would be needed before the procedure could be precisely settled. Although our principle reason for proposing this change is the improvement of relations with the public, there would be substantial secondary benefit in that a great deal of the time of District Inspectors and Head Constables is now taken up with court work, and this time could profitably be devoted to the leadership and administration of the police in their districts and to the development of good relations with the community.’