Crown prosecutors who charged runaways Jeff and Jenny Bramley with abducting their two foster-daughters were last night reviewing their decision after the High Court in London allowed the couple to keep the children.
A Family Division judge ruled that the Bramleys and their local authority will share parental responsibility for the girls, aged five and nearly four, until a final decision is made on their adoption plea in two years' time.
Mrs Justice Hogg said the girls "are now closely and securely attached to Mr and Mrs Bramley and are likely to continue to be well looked after in their care.
"For that reason, I have concluded that it is not in their interests to be removed and placed elsewhere."
The Crown Prosecution Service said last night that it was studying the judgment and the material presented to the High Court "to see what relevance it has to our decision to prosecute in this case".
A spokesman pointed out that a prosecution must be in the public interest and in the interest of the victims of the alleged crime.
The Bramleys, both 35, from Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, have pledged to "fully contest" eight charges brought against them on their return last January from 17 weeks in hiding in Ireland, where they had fled after social workers decided to place the children with another family. Their trial is at present scheduled for October.
After yesterday's ruling the couple said: "Only our love for and total commitment to the girls have seen us through."
They said they would be working with Cambridgeshire social services in the interests of the children and in the hope of drawing a line under what had happened.
The girls' natural mother welcomed the court ruling and said she looked forward to working with the Bramleys and the council.
Announcing her decision, Mrs Justice Hogg said the social workers had acted professionally and with complete good faith, with the children's interests at the "forefront of their minds" in a difficult situation.