Adapting this American series for the UK meant several problems as the legal systems of the US and the UK are very different in rules and procedures. Lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are not the same as District Attorneys in the US and do not have the same powers and procedures, nor are they subject to political influences as a DA who also has to face public election. The CPS does not engage in plea-bargaining (legally binding agreements for lesser charges, immunity, or sentences) with the defense in return for cooperation or a guilty plea, or an agreed minimum sentence, as these are strictly in the hands of the judge in the UK legal system. Although they can make recommendations to the judge, the judge does not have to follow them. Additionally, the CPS lawyers themselves do not personally prosecute the case in court (this is done by hired barristers), nor do they carry out their own further investigations into a case. The decision to prosecute or not is based solely on the evidence the police put forward and whether there is a reasonable likelihood of a conviction. In addition, Crown Prosecutors must then decide whether a prosecution is needed in the public interest.
The original US version of Law and Order was based on and inspired by a UK 4 part TV series of the same name produced by the BBC in 1978.
This is the first TV series in the Wolf Films/Universal "Law & Order" franchise not to have theme music composed by Mike Post or opening narration by Steven Zirnkilton (there are other foreign adaptations of L&O, but these are produced by licensees, not Wolf/Universal).
Originally each season was going to be shown as 13 complete episodes but this was later changed to blocks of 7 and 6 episodes per series to spread out over the year because the production was finding it difficult filming on the streets of London. However to make up for the low number of episodes North American countries like USA and Canada air the series in the original block of 13 episodes.
The producers have admitted that it is hard to film on the streets of London as actors such as Bradley Walsh (famous for his role as Danny Baldwin on Coronation Street (1960)), Jamie Bamber (famous for his role as Lee "Apollo" Adama on Battlestar Galactica (2004)) and Freema Agyeman (famous for her role as Martha Jones on new Doctor Who (2005)) are easily spotted by the public. In fact, in some scenes it is possible to see people in the background stopping what they are doing to see what's going on.