Part 15 Disclosure

Question 1

2. What are the key responsibilities of the disclosure manager?

Answer 1

• ensure all relevant and discoverable material is provided to defence counsel
• ensure all relevant and non-discoverable material is identified,listed an defence advised
• continually assess the risk to ensure that non discoverable material is identified and not disclosed
• continually review to ensure that ongoing lawful justification to withhold exists for each document that is withheld
• ensure that robust audit able systems are employed to record disclosure decisions and actions
• manage disclosure timeframes within the provisions of the act, or as otherwise directed by the courts
• retain and file all correspondence with defence counsel, both incoming and outgoing, in the 50000 series document category
• create a record in nia of the fact of disclosure against the charges, and make a brief record of delivery of initial disclosure in nia.

Question 2

3. The disclosure method selected will depend on what?

Answer 2

• actual and anticipated scale of the investigation
• resources available to the disclosure manager
• technical ability of the disclosure manager
• investigation file being stored in electronic or hard copy format
• number of persons charged
• scale of the file/amount of material to be disclosed
• sensitivity of material
• defence counsel involved and any agreement reached for defence counsel to receive material in a particular format

More recently, section 10(4) of the act, provides that disclosure may be supplied in whatever form, including electronically, that the person disclosing the information holds it in at the time of the request, provided this will be readily accessible to the defendant. Consideration must be given to whether a defendant has ready access to a computer with which to access electronic disclosure documents, particularly if remanded in prison

Question 3

1. On appointment to the role, the disclosure manager must?

Answer 3

• read the disclosure managers desk file
• access the current serious crime template downloaded to the local district shared drive, for use during the investigation
• report to the 2ic to receive a briefing, tasking, establishing what information is and is not discoverable and ongoing supervision

Question 4

4. How should any communication with the defence be done and what are the police obligations if the defendant changes legal representation

Answer 4

All communication should be conducted through the 2ic or crown solicitor, where engaged.

Police have an obligation where the legal representative of a defendant is replaced, to ensure the replacement counsel is provided with all material previously disclosed. This may be achieved by obtaining confirmation in writing from the replacement counsel that they have received all material previously disclosed from the outgoing counsel, or by providing the replacement counsel with a fresh copy.

Question 5

5. What should the crown receive in regard to disclosure

Answer 5

The crown should be provided with an identical copy of all material that is disclosed to defence counsel. The crown should also review an unedited copy of all material, where appropriate. This material should remain under the control of the file manager while it is being reviewed.