CPS evidence disclosure failings have led dozens of rape trials to collapse

Failures to disclose evidence caused the collapse of 47 rape and sexual assault cases in the first six weeks of 2018 alone, according to a review published by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

It has been found that the police and CPS have failed to meet their obligation to share potential evidence with the defence, even if it undermines the prosecution’s case on dozens of occasions from 1 January – 13 February 2018. The small time period looked at by the review has prompted concerns that many more such disclosure failures have taken place and are yet to come to light.

The director of public prosecutions, Alison Saunders, apologised to MPs for the CPS’ failings, which she said were “systemic” and related to how the CPS logs data. She said that all prosecutors were now receiving retraining.

High volumes of digital evidence, particularly social media, present a huge challenge to prosecutors, Saunders said, but disclosing what evidence the prosecution is looking at to the defence at an earlier stage should improve the situation.

As The Guardian reports, the chief constable of Surrey police, Nick Ephgraive, was also called before the justice select committee. He admitted that disclosure failings had a “catastrophic effect” on wrongly accused people, as well as on the public’s confidence in the justice system.

Angela Rafferty QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, commented: “For the CPS to question the reliability of not just a few but dozens of live rape and sexual offence cases out of a limited sample size of a few thousand will inevitably cause great consternation that some innocent people are already in prisons and many guilty may be walking free. We await the wider parliamentary review of the whole disclosure system that is now due – dealing with all criminal cases including sexual offences.”