Minister for Policing and Crime ( ): Today the Government publishes
Modernising the Criminal Disclosure Regime, setting out
our response to recommendations made by the Independent Review of
Disclosure and Fraud Offences and the Independent Review of the
Criminal Courts on the operation of the criminal disclosure
regime.
We are grateful to Jonathan Fisher KC for his thorough
Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences which has
been published in two parts. This Government Response refers to
Part One of his Independent Review: Disclosure in the Digital
Age. The Government Response to Part Two on Fraud Offences will
be published in due course.
Disclosure is a statutory regime that applies to all criminal
proceedings in England and Wales and is central to the right to a
fair trial. It governs how material gathered in criminal
investigations is recorded, reviewed, retained and shared,
ensuring that relevant material capable of assisting the defence
or undermining the prosecution is identified and disclosed.
Part One of this Review reflects extensive engagement across the
system and offers a practical package to raise standards,
embracing appropriate technology, strengthening case management
with an Intensive Disclosure Regime for the most complex cases,
and consolidating guidance and learning so that good practice is
embedded consistently.
We also thank Sir Brian Leveson for his work on the Independent
Review of the Criminal Courts, which included proposals related
to disclosure, set out in Chapter Five of Part Two of his
Independent Review. Our response considers Sir Brian Leveson's
proposals, alongside Jonathan Fisher KC's proposals, which have
enabled the Government to evaluate and implement disclosure
reform collectively, drawing on the findings of both Reviews. The
Government's full response to Sir Brian's Independent Review of
the Criminal Courts will be published separately in due course
The Government response to these recommendations sets out how we
will improve the disclosure regime while preserving its core
legal safeguards. In summary, it supports the responsible and
transparent use of advanced technology to manage large volumes of
material more efficiently; strengthens learning, training and
consistency across law enforcement and prosecutors; and considers
improved court processes, including exploring a pilot of the
proposed Intensive Disclosure Regime to support earlier, more
focused engagement between the prosecution and defence in the
most serious and complex cases.
Taken together, these measures are designed to reduce unnecessary
administrative burden on police and prosecutors, improve the
speed and accuracy of disclosure, support victims, and uphold the
right to a fair trial. This will deliver a disclosure regime that
is transparent, modern and fit for the future.
This response has been developed jointly with the Ministry of
Justice, owners of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act
1996 and its Code of Practice, and the Attorney General's Office,
which owns the Attorney General's Guidelines on Disclosure. I am
very grateful to the Solicitor General, the Courts Minister and
officials across all three departments for their close
collaboration in producing a coherent, system wide response.
The response is being presented to Parliament today as a Command
Paper (CP 1601) and will be available on GOV.UK.
