Disclosure: Streamlined Summary Disclosure

• Overview
• Background
• Anticipated Guilty Plea (GAP) Requirements
• Anticipated Not Guilty Plea (NGAP) Requirements 

Overview

This Guidance applies to any case which is summary only or which, on a reasonable assessment of the case, is likely to remain in the magistrates’ court and youth cases which will remain in the youth court.

Any case file which contains an offence which is indictable only, or is likely not to be suitable for summary trial, must have disclosure prepared in the usual way, by completing the MG6 forms. This includes youth cases that are likely to be considered to be ‘grave crimes’ and therefore sent to the Crown Court.

This document should be read in conjunction with the CPIA Code of Practice, the National Disclosure Standards and Disclosure Manual, which provide further information on the roles and responsibilities of the police and the prosecution.

Background

The streamlined certificate (SDC) for anticipated not guilty plea (NGAP) cases must be completed for all summary only cases, and all those which are either way but assessed to be clearly suitable for summary trial.

There is no requirement to complete a certificate for anticipated guilty plea (GAP) cases. For NGAP and cases where a NG plea is entered to a GAP case, there are two versions of the streamlined certificate. The first should be used when the police officer believes that there is nothing which is disclosable; the second should be used where a police officer believes some material needs to be disclosed.

Investigators and prosecutors are reminded of the common law duty under  [1999] 2 All ER 737 DPP ex parte Lee. The declaration on the MG5/Digital Case File (DCF) must be endorsed in the normal way if there is nothing to disclose. If there is something to disclose, its existence should be endorsed on the MG5/DCF. The common law duty applies to both GAP and NGAP cases, so if the MG5 is sent to the CPS before the DCF (for example in custody cases), the certificate must be endorsed or the procedure at 6 below followed.

To summarise:

• in every case, irrespective of the anticipated plea,
• if there is material known to the officer in the case/disclosure officer (e.g a key prosecution witness has relevant previous convictions, or a witness has withdrawn his or her statement) 
• and this material may assist the defence with the early preparation of their case or at a bail hearing,
• a note must be made on the MG5/DCF (or other format agreed under the File Standards), a copy of which is given to the defence, and
• the material disclosed to the prosecutor who will disclose it to the defence if he/she thinks it meets the test.

Anticipated Guilty Plea (GAP) Requirements

In a case where an officer anticipates after applying the Director’s Guidance that a guilty plea will be entered, he/she needs to either:

• Certify on the MG5/DCF that there is no material that falls to be disclosed under the common law duty to disclose material which might assist the defence with the early preparation of their case or a bail hearing or 
• note such material on the MG5/DCF to bring it to the attention of the prosecutor.  

If, exceptionally, that material is sensitive, the sensitive material schedule MG6D (or similar), together with an MG6E, should be used to communicate that to the prosecutor. This/they should be attached to the file in the usual way.  

Where material has been identified by an officer, the prosecutor must consider whether it falls to be disclosed. If it does, it must be disclosed accordingly with the IDPC or at court, before the case is heard.  

If at the first hearing, the defendant enters a guilty plea, then, subject to any common law duty described above, disclosure of unused material is not triggered. There is no requirement for any further disclosure to the defence. If, at the first hearing in a GAP court, the defendant enters a not guilty plea, the prosecutor should ask the police to submit any additional material required for an NGAP file as soon as possible. The ‘Unused Material Certificate for Anticipated NGPs’ must be completed at this stage regardless of whether any other material is required. ‘Routine revelation’ (which means copies of the crime report and the log of messages should be routinely copied to the prosecutor in every case in which a full file is provided. These documents are known in different police forces by different names, for example the incident record report or CAD for the log of messages) should also be provided at this stage; guidance on what should be provided can be found in the Disclosure Manual (Revelation of the material to the prosecutor).

The guidance in section Anticipated Not Guilty Plea (NGAP) Requirements below should then be followed

Anticipated Not Guilty Plea (NGAP) Requirements

When preparing the first hearing file, the officer in the case (Or, if one has been appointed, the disclosure officer) must complete the ‘Unused Material Certificate for Anticipated NGAPs’ at the Annex to the CPIA Code of Practice.  Where the officer believes there is nothing to disclose, he/she should complete the first NGAP version; where he/she thinks there may be something to disclose he/she should complete the second NGAP version.  ‘Routine revelation’ should be provided at the same time. 

If there is no material which is sensitive or which might fall to be disclosed as undermining the prosecution case or assisting the defence, the officer should sign the declaration in the relevant section on the ‘nothing to disclose’ version. If the prosecutor disagrees with that assessment, he/she should endorse the form accordingly and request any material that needs to be disclosed.

The officer should list any relevant material within the box marked ‘Schedule of Unused Material’. In the Code, ‘relevant’ is defined as meaning material ‘which appears to the investigator to have some bearing on any offence under investigation or any person being investigated or the surrounding circumstances unless it is incapable of having an impact on the case’.  

Each item should be consecutively numbered. A brief description must be sufficient to describe the document so that a reasoned decision on whether it meets the test for disclosure can be made by the prosecutor and understood by the defence.   

If CCTV is relevant, it is essential that the description of it is accurate and meaningful.  This means that greater detail will be necessary for CCTV, in order to avoid unnecessary applications for disclosure.  

If the material is not entirely consistent with the prosecution case or may assist the defence, a short description of the reason why that assessment is made should be entered in the box below the listed items at the end of the declaration. (e.g. ‘the note of the number plate taken by the witness records the prefix as an R, when the defendant’s car number plate actually begins with a B’). A copy of that item should then be attached, redacted if necessary.  The certificate should be endorsed (in the same box) to the effect that the officer believes redaction is needed and why. If the prosecutor needs an unredacted version, that will be requested.  

It is rare for there to be any sensitive unused material in summary cases, but if there is, the officer is required to complete the sensitive material schedule (‘Form MG6D’ or similar) together with an MG6E, and attach it/them to the file. Any documents should be given an appropriate security marking. Where there is no unused sensitive material, no additional form is required.  Additional guidance about sensitive unused material can be found in the Disclosure Manual, and it should be handled in the normal way.  

When the prosecutor receives the file, he/she should consider the completed ‘Unused Material Certificate for Anticipated NGAPs’ and make an assessment as to whether the material identified falls to be disclosed. The prosecutor should endorse this decision on the form. If the prosecutor disagrees with the officer that something needs to be disclosed, the assessment should be edited to that effect. If in a case where there is nothing to disclose, the prosecutor cannot be satisfied on the descriptions, he/she should request further information and/or inspect the document in question.   

A copy of the form and any disclosable material (redacted if necessary) should be available to give to the defence, either at the first hearing in the magistrates’ court, or with the IDPC if the prosecutor is aware of representation in advance (Whilst the trigger to disclose is a NGAP, the law does not prevent a prosecutor dealing with disclosure at an earlier stage if necessary and appropriate).  

For cases involved streamlined forensic reporting, all notes and material available need to be considered for the purposes of common law and streamlined disclosure prior to the first hearing. Once the forensic service provider has completed his/her report, the officer will need to consider the content, and provide an additional SDC.  

If the defence produce a defence statement, the prosecutor may request the police to produce an MG6E.