Course · Interpersonal Skills
Life as a Prosecutor
What a prosecutor really does: the duty to justice, the charging decision, disclosure, the courtroom, the pressure and the path in.
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Films show prosecutors as the people who win the case in the last five minutes. The real job begins long before the trial and is largely about decisions: whether the evidence is strong enough, whether prosecution is in the public interest, what must be shown to the defence and when to stop. It is a public office with a duty to justice, not to winning, and it is one of the most consequential jobs in law. This is the second course of the Legal Careers series. It works across legal systems, adversarial and inquisitorial, and starts with what the role is and the principles most systems share: the public interest, independence, legality and opportunity. It then follows the work: reading a case file critically and working with investigators; the two-part charging decision, with a worksheet you can practise on; fairness, disclosure and the treatment of victims, witnesses and the accused; preparing and presenting a case, including plea discussions; working under pressure, with a caseload triage tool; and the path into the role. A capstone follows a new prosecutor through six months at an invented district office.
The Curriculum
What a prosecutor is: the role, the systems, the public interest and independence→
The prosecutor’s role, adversarial and inquisitorial systems, the duty to justice, independence and the stages of a case. Practice: Whose Job Is It? and Spot the Myth.
The investigation and the file: working with police, evidence and the case file→
Prosecutor and investigator, types of evidence, lawfulness and chain of custody, reading a file critically and asking for more. Practice: Name the Evidence and Read the File.
The charging decision: the evidence test, the public interest, alternatives and reasons→
The evidence test, the public interest, choosing the charge, alternatives and recorded reasons. Practice: Charging Decision Worksheet, Weigh the Case and Spot the Overreach.
Fairness: disclosure, the rights of the accused, victims and witnesses, and wrongful convictions→
Disclosure, sensitive material, rights of suspects, victims and witnesses, bias and wrongful convictions. Practice: Disclosure Review tool, Handle the Duty and Spot the Unfairness.
Preparing and presenting a case: theory, witnesses, advocacy, pleas and sentence→
Case theory, witnesses and exhibits, opening, questioning, closing, pleas, sentence and appeals. Practice: Build the Opening, Handle the Moment and Spot the Advocacy Flaw.
Working under pressure: caseload, trauma, the media, politics and keeping your integrity→
Caseload and triage, distressing material, media and political pressure, relationships, mistakes and wellbeing. Practice: Caseload Triage tool, Handle the Pressure and Spot the Warning Sign.
Your path: becoming a prosecutor, the career, specialisms and moving on→
Routes in, selection, skills to build, career stages, specialisms and moving on. Practice: Role Explorer tool, Plan the Route and Spot the Weak Application.
Capstone: Capstone: a first six months at the Marlow District Prosecution Office→
Make a charging decision, review disclosure, triage a caseload, handle a plea offer, a media call and a vulnerable witness, and write a plan for the next six months.
What It Covers
“You will understand what it is to hold the state’s power over a person’s liberty and to use it fairly, and you will have practised the decisions that make that real.”
- Seven modules and a capstone that follow the prosecutor’s work from the file to the courtroom to the career, in a way that holds across adversarial and inquisitorial systems.
- Honest about the hard parts: weak evidence for serious crimes, disclosure that hurts the case, heavy caseloads, distressing material and political pressure.
- Four working tools: a Charging Decision Worksheet that applies the two-part test element by element, a Disclosure Review that sorts material and warns about the hard cases, a Caseload Triage that makes the order of work visible, and the Role Explorer.
- Built on a duty to justice, not to winning, with the lessons of wrongful convictions in the middle of it.
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The Client Conversation$15 →Trust, the first meeting, fees and scope, updates in plain words, advice and decisions, bad news, boundaries and ethics, with practice meetings.Module 1 is free to try. Sign in, pass each module quiz and the course average, and your Certificate of Completion is emailed to you automatically. This course teaches method and technique with invented people and figures; it is general education, not legal advice, and professional rules differ from country to country.
Common questions
- Is it for one country?
- No. It teaches the principles and structures that most systems share, notes where they differ (for example mandatory and discretionary prosecution, who directs investigations, disclosure) and tells you what to look up where you live. It is not a guide to the law of any one country.
- Is it only for people who want to be prosecutors?
- It suits students and graduates deciding on a career, defence lawyers and police who work with prosecutors, victims’ advocates, journalists and anyone who wants to understand how charging decisions are made.
- Does it cover the criminal law itself?
- No. It covers the prosecutor’s role, decisions and duties. The criminal law and evidence courses of the foundation series cover the rules of the offences and of proof.
- How realistic are the tools?
- They teach the structure of the reasoning, not any one country’s code. The Charging Decision Worksheet supports judgement and does not replace it, and the Disclosure Review and Caseload Triage are learning devices. All use invented cases.
- Is it legal or career advice?
- No. It is general education using invented people and offices. Rules, routes and standards differ between countries and change; check yours with the prosecution service and the profession.
- How do I get the Certificate of Completion?
- Sign in, pass each module quiz and keep a course average of at least 75. The certificate is then issued and emailed to you automatically.
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