All current rape cases to be 'urgently' reviewed over disclosure fears

All modern-day rape and severe sexual attack cases in england and wales are to be reviewed "as a matter of urgency" to make certain evidence has been disclosed.

Director of public prosecutions alison saunders warned the review should see "some of instances" dropped.

It comes after the disintegrate of numerous rape trials due to the fact evidence had not been shared with defence legal professionals.

Bbc felony correspondent clive coleman said there have been a failure to proportion digital evidence in each of the instances.

Attorney widespread jeremy wright stated there was no evidence of "good sized malpractice or dishonesty", however police and prosecutors had to become familiar with the way they treated digital proof.

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In the lead as much as crook trials, police and prosecutors have a responsibility to disclose evidence or data that could both assist the defence case, or harm the prosecution's case.

However, the system has come below scrutiny after the collapse of a number of trials, heightening concerns that proof isn't being disclosed early enough - or that guidelines are not being observed.

Concerns have additionally been raised that doubtlessly key records taken from cell telephones, computer systems and social media isn't being shared.

'deep-rooted' troubles
The crown prosecution provider, the country wide police chiefs' council (npcc) and the university of policing have launched an "improvement plan" to address the difficulty.

It will encompass reviewing training, developing professional disclosure professionals in each police force, and supplying all multimedia evidence to the defence digitally.

Ms saunders - the maximum senior public prosecutor in england and wales - said the stairs could assist to deal with "deep-rooted and systemic" disclosure issues which have been of "amazing challenge".

"adjustments in society, together with the hugely growing use of social media and mobile telephone messaging, deliver demanding situations that every one components of the criminal justice machine, despite the resourcing challenges, have to deal with," she said.

"we're taking steps to perceive any individual instances of concern as a count number of urgency."ultimate week, a rape charge against oxford university scholar oliver mears became dropped at the eve of his trial, after a diary which supported his case was exposed.

And in december, the trial of liam allan, who faced 12 counts of rape and sexual assault, changed into dropped whilst it emerged proof on a laptop disc - which police had regarded through - showed messages from the alleged victim pestering him for "informal intercourse".

In advance this week, the bbc discovered the number of prosecutions in england and wales that collapsed because of a failure via police or prosecutors to reveal evidence had extended by using 70% within the last  years.

Social media traffic
Our correspondent said the evaluation changed into "extraordinary" notwithstanding coming after years of warnings approximately disclosure issues by means of lawyers.

He stated the plan found out little about how adjustments could be funded, or approximately whether or not there was scope for reviewing past convictions.

It additionally begged the query of why the evaluation become restricted to rape and sexual attack cases while many believed troubles of disclosure had been systemic, he added.

On friday, the trial of 3 human beings hung on trafficking and prostitution costs become stopped after it changed into observed social media evidence had not been disclosed.

Attorney preferred jeremy wright said that despite the fact that he had no longer visible proof of malpractice or dishonesty inside the prosecution gadget, in some cases people were "not doing their activity well".

"however i assume it additionally shows some thing else - what we are seeing over the past year or two or three, is a big increase within the quantity of in particular electronic material that capabilities in criminal cases.

"there genuinely is no excuse for investigators and prosecutors now not getting to grips with social media visitors and text messages," he told bbc radio 4's these days programme.

Police disasters
Leader constable nick ephgrave, the npcc lead for crook justice, stated the disclosure of evidence had too regularly been visible as an "administrative undertaking" completed on the end of a case, and now needed to be firmly embedded in the "investigative mind-set".

He said issues have been "exacerbated via the rapid enlargement of virtual material involved in nearly every case".

"evaluations of recent cases have proven a variety of problems main to screw ups but there has been no goal via officials to hide records," he brought.