PRESS RELEASE : New Director of Public Prosecutions announced [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Attorney General’s Office on 14 September 2023.

Stephen Parkinson will be the new Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service the Attorney General has announced today.

Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC MP selected Mr Parkinson following an open and transparent competition. It is expected that he will take up the appointment from 1 November for an initial term of five years. He will succeed the outgoing DPP, Max Hill KC.

The Attorney General Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC MP said:

Stephen Parkinson brings a unique combination of legal expertise and public service at the highest levels, demonstrated most recently as Senior Partner at law firm Kingsley Napley LLP, and having spent numerous years in three of the Law Officers’ Departments: the Attorney General’s Office, Treasury Solicitor’s Department and as a prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) itself.

Stephen has had a stellar legal career both in and outside of government as well as experience of both prosecuting and defending. Combining this with his extensive track record of leadership, I have every confidence he will be a collaborative director and a principled and independent chief prosecutor. The public will rightly expect nothing less.

He will build on the achievements of Max Hill to whom I am grateful. The role of DPP requires exceptional qualities of judgement and character. I am looking forward to working with the new Director.

The CPS prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales. The CPS is independent and makes its decisions independently of the police and government.

Mr Parkinson said:

I am delighted and honoured to be appointed as the next Director of Public Prosecutions. Both as a prosecutor and defender I have always strongly believed in the importance of the CPS in bringing to justice and prosecuting fairly those accused of crime.

I would like to pay tribute to the work that Max Hill has done leading the CPS successfully through the challenges of the Pandemic and setting a clear direction for the future. I look forward to building on his legacy.

Note to Editors

• As set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1987, the Attorney General appoints the DPP.
• The current DPP, Max Hill KC, will serve his full five-year term, which is due to end in October 2023.

Stephen Parkinson Biography

Experience

Senior Partner, Kingsley Napley LLP 2018 – 2023

Head of Criminal Litigation Practice Area, Kingsley Napley 2006 – 2018

Deputy Legal Secretary (SCS, Grade 3) 1999 – 2003

Government Legal Department, Group Head, Litigation Division 1996-1999

Department of Trade and Industry – Assistant Solicitor 1992-1996

Crown Prosecution Service – Head of International Co-operation Unit 1991-1992

Education

University College London, LLB 1976 – 1979

Inns of Court School of Law, Barrister 1979 – 1980

Pupillage, 3 Temple Gardens 1980 – 1982

Qualified as Solicitor 2005

Biography

Stephen Parkinson is a practicing lawyer with a long and distinguished career which began in the CPS as a junior Prosecutor.

He has most recently been Senior Partner at law firm Kingsley Napley LLP where he has represented a number of high-profile clients.

His last 20 years as a defence lawyer have built on the skills and experience that he gained from his years working as a prosecutor, and he has developed an extensive practice advising on, or undertaking, investigations for organisations, companies and individuals which will be a strength in his role as DPP.

He accumulated a wealth of experience in Government, including roles in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, where he was responsible for most of the Government’s regulatory litigation, and also the Department of Trade and Industry, where he headed a team providing legal advice in live company investigations.

In the CPS, he progressed from junior prosecutor to the head of the International Co-Operation Unit and also spent two periods in the Attorney General’s Office, with his last post being as deputy head of the department.