§ Mr. Bestasked the Attorney-General what steps will be taken to ensure that information known to the prosecution will be disclosed to the defence in cases to be 252W tried by the Crown court in the light of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on criminal procedure.
§ The Attorney-GeneralMy hon. Friend will be aware that the recommendations of the working party on disclosre of information on trials on indictment were accepted by the Royal Commission on criminal procedure at chapter 8, paragraph 19.
In order to ensure that uniform standards are applied with regard to such disclosure, I have issued guidelines for prosecutors on the disclosure of information to the defence in cases to be tried on indictment.
These guidelines are based on the recommendations of the working party.
Copies of the guidelines have been placed in the Library of the House.