The prosecution’s duty of disclosure Mandatory warnings to the jury : In 1981 the Attorney General issued guidelines to improve the existing practice of disclosure by the Crown. But these guidelines do not have the force of law. The law of disclosure is that laid down by the judge, in decided cases, and today the guidelines fail to reflect the law in a number of important respects. Their value as a set of instructions to prosecutors has thus largely been eroded by

doi:10.4324/9781843142829-29

Chapter

The prosecution’s duty of disclosure Mandatory warnings to the jury

Chapter

ABSTRACT

Politicians and lawyers have generally turned a blind eye to these fundamental defects. Attempts to make verdicts a little more reliable have been made only erratically, and on a piecemeal basis. This chapter deals with attempts that have been made: • to remove the hazards involved in the selection by police and prosecuting