Press Release: Damning watchdog report on evidence disclosure shows 'risk of miscarriages of justice too high', says law charity

Damning watchdog report on evidence disclosure shows 'risk of miscarriages of justice too high', says law charity

Press release – APPEAL – 10 January 2020

Police are failing to comply with evidence disclosure rules in 80 per cent of cases, and the quality of the Crown Prosecution Service’s handling of disclosure remains ‘unacceptably low’, according to a new watchdog report.

The latest report from HM Inspectorate for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), follows a highly critical 2017 joint inspection which found ‘a culture of defeated acceptance’ of the failing disclosure regime across the criminal justice system.  

Despite some improvements of the CPS’ performance, in certain areas the baseline was ‘very low’ and far from acceptable, according to the latest report. The watchdog also found that although the police “almost always” used the correct disclosure forms, they were completed in full in only about 20 per cent of cases. According to the report, the most common error made by the police was the omission of information. This was exacerbated by inadequate communication between prosecutors and investigators, the watchdog said.

Despite increased training across the police and CPS, the watchdog found funding constraints on both services were preventing improved quality of disclosure handling.

Kevin McGinty, HM chief inspector of the CPS, said the underlying problem was a lack of resources. “The challenge facing the CPS and police is considerable,” he said. “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.” 

The findings of the report are ‘shameful’ and ‘shatter the idea that British justice is the best in the world’, say a legal charity specialising in miscarriages of justice.

 Emily Bolton, Director of APPEAL, said:

"This report makes plain that evidence disclosure failures by police and prosecutors have not gone away. The risk of miscarriages of justice occurring remains far too high.

“How can we continue to accept the idea that we have the best justice system in the world when repeatedly faced with evidence of its failures? Problems with disclosure of evidence by police and prosecutors are not trivial. Failing to hand over evidence which could prove someone’s innocence is shameful and leads to miscarriages of justice.

"In an adversarial system, police and prosecutors are simply the wrong people to be deciding what evidence the defence gets to see. We repeat our calls for either the creation of an Independent Disclosure Agency or the disclosure of all case material to the defence except that which is genuinely sensitive.

"This report also highlights the need for a new access to evidence law to ensure that when people are wrongly convicted, they can access the documents and exhibits needed to prove their innocence."