Alison Saunders

Early life

Saunders was born on 14 February 1961 in Aberdeen, Scotland. She attended primary school in Brixton, London. She read law at the University of Leeds from 1979 to 1982. She graduated Bachelor of Laws (LLB hons).

Career

Having completed her pupillage and thereby becoming a qualified barrister, Saunders began working for Lloyd's of London. She joined the newly formed CPS in 1986. In 1991, she joined the CPS policy division. She was appointed Branch Crown Prosecutor for Wood Green in 1997, and Assistant Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS London South in 1999. She took up the appointment of Chief Crown Prosecutor for Sussex in 2001 overseeing the case made against Roy Whiting, who was convicted of murdering Sarah Payne. Between 2003 and 2005, she served as Deputy Legal Advisor to the Attorney General. She then became head of prosecutions for the Organised Crime division of the CPS. She was the Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London from 2009 until 2013. During that time, she was involved in the 2011 to 2012 retrial, and subsequent conviction, of the killers of Stephen Lawrence.

Director of Public Prosecutions

On 23 July 2013, it was announced that she would become the new Director of Public Prosecutions in succession to Sir Keir Starmer, taking up the appointment on 1 November 2013. She is the first head of the Crown Prosecution Service to be appointed from within the service and the second woman to hold the appointment.

As the Director of Public Prosecutions, Saunders has faced criticism and controversy around the handling of trials for rape and sexual assault. The Crown Prosecution Service has been criticised for the case of Eleanor de Freitas, who killed herself after the Crown Prosecution Service decided to take over a private prosecution brought against her by the man she accused of rape. Saunders said that the "evidence in this case was strong and having considered it in light of all of our knowledge and guidance on prosecuting sexual offences and allegedly false rape claims, it is clear there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction for perverting the course of justice". Saunders has also stated that the number of rape prosecutions being brought to court will increase by a third in the year 2015 and has argued that this increase follows improvements in the treatment received by victims by police, courts and the Crown Prosecution Service.

In 2014, Saunders announced the Crown Prosecution Service would be seeking to fight against criminals hiding assets abroad and appointed a team of six specialist lawyers to work with legal authorities overseas to recover assets from countries including Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

In April 2015, Saunders was criticized for her decision to not prosecute Greville Janner on child sexual abuse charges despite his meeting the evidential test for prosecution, citing his poor health, as well as for dropping charges against nine journalists as part of the Operation Elveden case. Saunders defended herself saying, "I’m not here to make popular decisions. I always feel under pressure to make the right decision." In June 2015 The Guardian reported that, following a review, the decision not to prosecute Lord Janner would in fact be overturned. Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale, told the Guardian that "if the report is accurate, Saunders will now have to consider her position" as a result of the scrutiny that her initial decision would now be placed under. The decision marks the first time a DDP has had a major prosecuting decision reviewed and overturned. Amid calls for her resignation, she told the BBC that she will not resign.

In 2015 a case was brought against Saunders in the High Court. The Plaintiff, Nikki Kenward, argued that Saunders had amended prosecution policy outside of the democratic process. Saunders released the alleged amendment in October, 2014. In it she suggested that the guidelines on assisted suicide prosecution be understood such that a doctor who is not the patient's immediate care provider, should not be as likely to face prosecution as a doctor who is the patient's immediate care provider. This prompted a backlash from anti-assisted suicide groups who argued that this was a substantial change, which would allow for businesses similar to Dignitas to operate in the UK. Saunders defence was that she had only clarified the existing guidelines. Nevertheless, Kenward was granted the judicial review against Saunders in April, 2015. It went to the High Court in November, 2015 where the case against Saunders was dismissed.

As of 2015, Saunders was paid a salary of between £200,000 and £204,999, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.

Personal life

Saunders is married to a lawyer and has two sons.

Honours

In the 2013 New Year Honours, she was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) 'for services to Law and Order especially after the 2011 London Riots'.