ABSTRACT
We have already seen that the prosecution have to disclose the evidence that they will be adducing against the defendant (under the Advance Information Rules in cases tried in the magistrates’ court or through the process of committal or transfer in the Crown Court cases). It is noteworthy that, in his Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales, Lord Justice Auld notes (paras 117-20 of Chapter 10) that the rules on disclosure of evidence that the prosecution intend to adduce are rather piecemeal. He recommends that:
There should be a single set of statutory rules imposing on the prosecution in all cases a duty to provide its proposed evidence in sufficient time to enable the defence adequately to prepare for trial, the precise timescale to be prescribed by rules (Recommendation 194).
