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Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said it was important not to ''shy away'' from difficult cases
The director of public prosecutions has said the Crown Prosecution Service was right to take the Nigel Evans sex abuse case to court.
Alison Saunders said the CPS was not "on a mission" to pursue famous people and insisted it would not "shy away" from difficult cases.
Former Commons deputy speaker Mr Evans was cleared of nine sex abuse charges.
Calls have since been made for a review of some judicial processes, with claims his case should not have gone to court.
Former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald warned that prosecutors needed to "keep a cool head" in investigations of historical abuse cases.
'Star-struck'Without commenting directly on Mr Evans's case, he told the Times that prosecutors "on a mission" to pursue famous people "could lose perspective".
But Ms Saunders rejected suggestions the CPS was "star-struck".
She told the BBC: "We apply the same test no matter who the offender or the victim is, and it's very important that we do that.
"So I certainly don't think that the CPS has been star-struck in any way."
She said she would look at the Evans case to see if lessons could be learned - as was normal with all acquittals - but she rejected any widespread change to CPS procedures in such cases.
"I think we made the right decision in taking it before the court," Ms Saunders said.
"We looked at all the evidence and decided there was a realistic prospect of conviction. And what we have to remember is that juries apply a very different, much higher test which is, are they satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt?"
She insisted the CPS would continue to take difficult cases to court provided they satisfied its test.
'Losing perspective'Her comments followed Lord Macdonald's warning that the CPS needed to avoid losing perspective when dealing with famous people, particularly with historical cases that had received a lot of publicity.
"We don't want prosecutors only to bring sure-fire winners. That way lots of guilty people would never be taken to court," he said.
"The more challenging cases need to be prosecuted too, so that the courts can decide.
"What the CPS needs to avoid, however, is going on a mission and losing perspective.
"This particularly applies to historical cases which have garnered a lot of publicity. You have to keep a cool head."
The CPS has maintained it was right that all the evidence in the case of Mr Evans was put before a jury, but added that it respected the court's decision to clear him of all the charges.
But some MPs have criticised the CPS and police after Mr Evans's acquittal.
Conservative MP David Davis, a former shadow home secretary, called for an urgent review, saying there was "a risk of a serious injustice" under the current system.
Mr Davis said: "This case has highlighted serious concerns over how the police and the Crown Prosecution Service bring sexual offence cases to court.
"In particular we must now review the process whereby the police and the Crown Prosecution Service put together a large number of lesser, subsidiary cases in order to reinforce one serious case when prosecuting sexual offences.
"It is clear from the way that this case proceeded that there is a risk of a serious injustice being done to an innocent man, and I would call on the attorney general to urgently review this issue."
'Failing victims'Ms Saunders told the BBC that the CPS prosecutes more than 730,000 cases each year and has a conviction rate of 86%.
She said the same test was applied to all cases across the board.
"If a case satisfies the evidential test and it's in the public interest to prosecute it, we will prosecute," Ms Saunders said.
"And it would be wrong and we would be rightly criticised if we didn't take cases just because we were being overly cautious and we would be failing in our duty to victims and society."
Mr Evans was cleared of a string of sex abuse charges, including one of rape.
The rape claim was among several allegations made by seven men during a five-week trial at Preston Crown Court.
Mr Evans was said to have used his political influence to take advantage of his alleged victims but the defence pointed out inconsistencies in various witness accounts.
The former Conservative MP, 56, currently sits as an independent for Ribble Valley.
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