High-ranking barrister Max Hill QC defended the large fall in the number of rape charges

The new Director of Public Prosecutions today defended the fall in the number of rape charges to its lowest level in a decade.

High-ranking barrister Max Hill QC has claimed the 23 per cent drop was down to prosecutors attempting to raise the 'quality' of cases brought to trial.

The former terrorism watchdog added that he understood concerns over the fall – but denied prosecutors were given targets to screen out weak cases.

It follows fears from the Women's Equality party that the most vulnerable rape victims were missing out on justice because rape prosecutors were taking a more risk-averse approach to cases.

But Mr Hill told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'That is absolutely not part of the Crown Prosecution Service thinking. We don't screen out. We don't set targets.

'We don't have any statistical evaluation. We apply the code for prosecutors. That means in any and every case where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest we will charge.'

Mr Hill's predecessor Alison Saunders (pictured) announced she was quitting the post in April

He added that 'past failures' at the CPS had led to trials collapsing over failures to disclose evidence, but insisted prosecutors were working to 'improve file quality'.

On November 1, Mr Hill pledged to build public trust in the criminal justice system as he took over from Alison Saunders as Director of Public Prosecutions.

Who is the new Director of Public Prosecutions? Max Hill QC, who was called to the bar in 1987, successfully prosecuted the failed 21/7 bombers and appeared in the inquest into the 7/7 attacks, as well as acting in fraud, corporate crime and serious violence cases. He is from Hertfordshire and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2008. The Oxford graduate has appeared on Channel 4 programme The Trial, in which real juries, barristers and judges tried a fictional murder case to see how the jury system works. He had been the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation since March 2017. Advertisement

He took charge of the CPS after months in which it has been heavily criticised for a catalogue of disclosure failings that led to cases collapsing.

Ms Saunders announced she was quitting in April, rejecting criticisms of her five-year stint and describing claims that standards had slipped as 'hugely insulting' to prosecutors.

Confidence in the criminal justice system was rocked after a flurry of cases collapsed when it emerged vital evidence had not been passed to defence lawyers.

The collapsed trial of rape-accused Liam Allan raised the profile of a string of similar sex cases, where charges were dropped when critical material emerged at the last minute.

The revelations prompted a review of every live rape and serious sexual assault prosecution in England and Wales, which found issues with the disclosure of unused material in 47 cases.

A Justice Committee report concluded the CPS may have underestimated the number of cases stopped because of disclosure errors by 90 per cent.