DPP issues new guidance on disclosure to prosecutors

14/02/2006

Prosecutors have been given detailed new guidance on dealing with disclosure issues concerning expert witnesses, as the result of a high-profile project chaired by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The multi-agency Expert Project was set up to improve the way expert disclosure issues are handled, and involved direct input from senior figures in the Home Office Pathology Advisory Board, Forensic Science Service, Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners and the General Medical Council.

Heads of these agencies sat on the project's steering group alongside the Directors of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, the Serious Fraud Office and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald QC, who chaired it.

Mr Macdonald said: "If we improve our handling of disclosure, we build stronger cases. This will help secure fair trials, achieve positive case outcomes, reduce delay and improve public confidence in the criminal justice system. When followed properly the new guidance will improve the quality of disclosure and expert witness testimony called on behalf of the prosecution."

The project, which has now completed its work, involved an intensive effort by CPS lawyers, police officers, representatives from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, the Serious Fraud Office and the Attorney General's office.

The statutory regime regulating disclosure in criminal proceedings under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 does not impose disclosure obligations on many expert witnesses so the project has produced comprehensive guidance setting out what prosecutors should expect from the expert witnesses they instruct.

The new Guidance Booklet for Experts sets out practical steps experts have to take when dealing with material in their possession which is relevant to the investigation in question, emphasising the need for them to record, retain and in due course reveal that material to investigators and prosecutors.

The guidance for prosecutors and police officers covers situations where the competence and credibility of an expert is an issue, and includes specific mechanisms for the revelation by experts of material which is relevant to this important issue.

Experts will now be required to complete a certificate of competence and credibility and must also sign a declaration that the expert has fully complied with disclosure obligations.

The work of the project involved consideration of how to approach past cases where the competence and credibility of an expert becomes an issue.

Notes to Editors

1. The new expert disclosure guidance can be found at chapters 36 and 37 of Part 2 of the Disclosure Manual, the joint operation instructions agreed by the CPS and ACPO for handling unused material in criminal cases.
2. The booklet itself is reproduced in Annex K of the Disclosure Manual. Investigators and prosecutors can refer to these chapters for comprehensive and authoritative guidance, whether the case they are dealing with is simple and routine, or serious and complex.
3. These documents can be found on our website in Legal Guidance - Disclosure and Covert Law Enforcement - Disclosure Manual.
4. The Attorney General's Review of Infant Death cases - Addendum to report - Shaken Baby Syndrome is available on the Attorney General's website.
5. Media enquiries to CPS Press Office on 020 7796 8180/8105.