The failings which have lead to a national overview of all stay rape and serious sexual assault cases have been due to police forces and prosecutors not carrying out a “primary” system; the Attorney General has cautioned.
In a stinging complaint of authorities’ handling a chain of failed rape instances, Jeremy Wright QC has said there was “no excuse” and that there was a “full-size problem” with how disclosure protocol is accompanied.
He also declined to mention whether or not Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions, has to bear in mind her function. However, he said that tackling the difficulty required a “joint attempt” from prosecutors and police.
Mr. Wright commented yesterday as he discovered he had asked the CPS to study all live instances amid fears that dozens may be compromised through the failure to disclose critical proof beforehand of trial.
Ms. Saunders has admitted the evaluation – so one can affect every pressure in England and Wales – will in all likelihood result in several cases being stopped as others are added forward.
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It comes after four high-profile rape instances collapsed within a period of weeks after the prosecution turned into observed to have only disclosed critical information – which might have cleared the defendants – days earlier than trial.
Alison Saunders Alison Saunders CREDIT: FELIX CLAY
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Mr. Wright stated that whilst he did not trust that “malpractice or dishonesty” become rife in the justice machine, it was evident that disclosure became no longer being observed “nicely.”
He additionally rebuked recommendations that investment cuts were responsible for the flaws, mentioning that the number of special prosecutors coping with rape and sexual offenses had accelerated by way of 40 percent when you consider that 2015.
“What we are speakme about here is those people doing the task they may be anticipated to do and following the disclosure regime well – that is what we need to all count on them to do,” he brought.
“I suppose it would be incorrect to lessen this to a controversy approximately sources – I suppose it’s plenty more essential than that.
“The failings in these cases have now not been because there wasn’t a police officer and there wasn’t a prosecutor; it’s because they failed to look like making use of the regime they are predicted to apply in accomplishing disclosure well.”
He added that disclosure became “simple stuff,” however, they did no longer agree that there was evidence of “sizable malpractice or dishonesty.”
A collection of blunders led to the collapse of the prosecution of Oxford University scholar Oliver Mears A collection of mistakes caused the disintegration of the prosecution of Oxford University scholar Oliver Mears. As a part of the evaluation, the CPS can be tasked with bringing the justice machine into the “new global” to grapple with the frequently “large volume” of digital evidence, which includes social media messages.
On Friday, Ms. Saunders said of the rape instances review: “Inevitably, bringing ahead these case opinions way it’s far in all likelihood that there may be several cases which we can be stopping at across the equal time.”
The CPS, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and College of Policing also posted a disclosure “development plan”. The record commits to reviewing whether there “should be a demand for officials to hold a Licence to Practise in admire of disclosure” through January 2019.
