Criminal Investigation and Pre-Trial Disclosure in the United Kingdom

This book details the findings of a study into the operation of advance disclosure in the UK, where defective disclosure has been a central feature of many of the most notorious miscarriages of justice. It is widely accepted that the procedures for disclosure of ‘unused material’ have never operated as intended and that material which should be disclosed is routinely ignored. Furthermore, the criminal justice system appears incapable of adequately recognizing and correcting defective disclosure, with potentially disastrous consequences. The criminal justice system is increasingly dependent on the administrative construction of ‘cases’ – the paper form which forms the basis for all subsequent stages of the prosecution process. However, control of unused material remains very much in the hands of police and, therefore, the attitudes and working practices of officers are central to assessing the effectiveness, or otherwise, of the provisions. This study examined Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act (CPIA) disclosure in two regional police forces in an attempt to identify those factors, both cultural and institutional, which have acted to impede the effective operation of the disclosure provisions. This work illustrates the strategies used by investigators to circumvent the due process safeguards of the disclosure regime and, as such, is of interest to anyone concerned with the criminal justice system and the protection of human rights.