Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Authors: David Corker & Stephen Parkinson

Price: £55.00

Edition: 1st Edition (January 2009)

ISBN: 978-0-19-921134-0

Buy from OUP: Click Here

For all criminal litigators, disclosure is an important part of the process.  For prosecution lawyers, they must be sure what they must disclose and when they may withhold disclosure.  For defence lawyers, the skill is knowing if there is further disclosure which has unlawfully been withheld.  Until now, there were few texts solely dealing with this important topic: Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings aims to plug this gap.

Written by two experienced criminal solicitors, one of whom was formerly a barrister and the other who served time as a police constable, Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings is separated into thirteen chapters including disclosure of the prosecution case, public interest immunity, expert evidence, third-party disclosure and trial disclosure.  It also includes eight fairly detailed appendices including the Criminal Procedure and Investigate Act 1996 Code of Practice, the Attorney-General's Guidelines on Disclosure and Parts 21 and 25 of the Criminal Procedure Rules.  The layout of the text is excellent meaning the material is logically and practically tackled.

Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings is very well-written.  It is clear that the authors' considerable experience as practising lawyers has been imparted into the text.  The authors make a number of practical points.  For example, when discussing third party disclosure the authors consider two practical bases of argument if the investigator or prosecutor fails to pursue reasonable lines of enquiry and each approach's respective merits.  By doing so, the authors encourage the reader to think laterally and out-fox his opponent.  The written style is also easy to read meaning the material can be quickly covered.  It is also relatively free of legalese: the authors should be applauded for this.

To truly master criminal litigation, a practitioner needs to fully understand disclosure and its application.  Practitioners wanting a practical guide to this discrete topic of criminal litigation should look no further than Corker and Parkinson's Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings.  It is well-balanced and provides consideration of the important arguments and case-law.  It should therefore be mandatory reading for anyone practising, or wishing to practice, in this area of law.

Reviewed on 1 September 2009

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