The Crown Prosecution Service improve their handling of disclosure, but further improvement is needed before the necessary standard is achieved

HM Crown Prosecution Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has today published its latest report on the handling by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of the disclosure of unused material in the Crown Court.

The report has found that the range of internal measures being implemented by the police and the CPS, including the extensive training programmes and more rigorous internal quality assurance, are making a difference and Inspectors found signs of improvement. There were good examples of prosecutors who really understood what was required of them. Although there is still a considerable way to go, the direction of travel is encouraging for the CPS and it is still at an early stage.

The file examination also shows that the recent focus on disclosure both in the police and the CPS is having an impact. This is to be welcomed, but it should be noted that in many instances the improvement is from a low baseline. Overall the inspection concludes that performance in many aspects will need to improve further to reach an acceptable standard. If the improvements in case quality and compliance with disclosure are to continue then effective training will be crucial.

Key highlights of the improvements made between the first set of cases examined and the final set of cases examined show:

• A 28% improvement of the CPS correctly advising the police in the charging advice on reasonable lines of enquiry (from 46% to 74%).
• An increase of over 20% in the number of cases where the CPS charging advice dealt properly with disclosable and non-disclosable unused material fully meeting the required standard (from 29% to 49%).
• The CPS improving its compliance with the requirement for the prosecutor to review the defence statement and provide comments and advice to the police from 41% of cases to 60% of cases.

However, there are areas of performance, which although improved, remain unacceptably low. This includes:

• The CPS feeding back to the police when they identified police failure in the handling of unused material in pre-charge cases improving from 6% in cases examined in the first set to 16% in the last set of cases examined.

HM Chief Inspector, Kevin McGinty said:

‘In 2017 the joint inspection of disclosure set out that there appeared to be a culture of defeated acceptance; many in the police and CPS who dealt with general Crown Court cases thought that the issues around disclosure would continue and never be resolved.

Since the joint inspection there has been a concerted effort by the police and CPS to work together to develop and implement measures designed to improve performance. The challenge facing the CPS and police is considerable. The CPS has been struggling to deal with its caseload without having the numbers of lawyers needed to do it. Similarly, the Police have struggled with the impact of stretched resources and the lack of understanding of disclosure obligations by inexperienced police officers. It will take time for the issues identified in our earlier report to be fully met.

This inspection shows that training being employed by the CPS and police is having an effect. This is to be welcomed, but our findings also show that the improvements come from a low baseline and it is clear that performance needs to improve further to reach an acceptable standard. This is still work in progress.’

Notes to editors:

1. HMCPSI inspects prosecution services, providing evidence to make the prosecution process better and more accountable. We have a statutory duty to inspect the work of the Crown Prosecution Service.
2. The full review can be found here:
3. The last time HMCPSI inspected the handling of disclosure was in 2017 – this was a joint inspection with HMICFRS. This report is linked here: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmcpsi/inspections/making-it-fair-the-disclosure-of-unused-material-in-volume-crown-court-cases/
4. To assess progress the file examination was split into six distinct tranches. Inspectors assessed cases from all 14 CPS Areas across England and Wales in 11 month period.
5. The report sets out the findings from an assessment of 560 cases immediately post the charging decision by the CPS and of 555 live cases which were examined two weeks before the trial was due to start (1115 cases in all).
6. An acceptable standard would be full compliance with obligations; this would result in an assessment of 100% by inspectors.
7. Disclosure of unused material is a key component of the investigative and prosecution process. When conducting investigations, the police have to retain every item which is not been used as part of the prosecution’s case against the defendant but which is still relevant to an investigation. Each item is then reviewed to see whether it is capable of undermining the prosecution case or assisting the defence case. If either factor applies it must be disclosed to the defence.

Disclosure of unused material in the crown court January 2020 (2 MB)