Cash lifeline as CPS tackles disclosure rules ; ;The government has injected a substantial sum into prosecution activities to ensure the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police can cope with the extra burden of disclosure obligations introduced last week.

;The Attorney-General, Lord Williams of Mostyn QC, acknowledged the new disclosure guidelines would place an additional administrative burden on the prosecution, but that the changes were necessary in the interests of justice.

Life is difficult, he added, saying the government had budgeted for a substantial financial settlement.

;The guidelines impose on prosecution advocates a general duty to disclose information to the defence and to keep a proper record of decisions and actions.

;The government accepted Law Society arguments to introduce prescribed lists of the kind of material that should automatically or usually be disclosed; however it will only be secondary disclosure after the defence statement is delivered rather than primary disclosure as the Society had sought.

;A recent Home Office study (see below) revealed that prosecution advocates are already struggling to keep up with their existing obligations.

In the report, defence solicitors complained they had not been given enough advance information before a first court appearance and feared that there would be wrongful convictions in these cases.

;Malcolm Fowler, chairman of the Societys criminal law committee, welcomed the guidelines so far as they go, but said it needed legislative change to end the flawed perception that police officers should be in charge of disclosure.

;Rodney Warren, vice-chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said: Its essential that all parties are given enough time to do their work properly.

Although he branded the criminal justice system as a sausage machine, he acknowledged there has been some improvement.

;Meanwhile, the Home Office study on the national roll-out of the Narey criminal justice reforms has found that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is struggling to cope.

;The study reported that nearly half of the 42 criminal justice areas said police station cover is under-funded and were critical of the national implementation arrangements.

They said they had not been given enough time to train prosecutors, have still not cleared a backlog of pre-Narey cases, and that defence solicitors and some courts are refusing to make the required changes.

;Although there is less administration under the new system, CPS lawyers workloads have not improved.

While there are more first instance guilty pleas and fewer avoidable adjournments, they still take the same amount of court time.

;A Home Office spokesman said some areas still had some way to go.

He said the reducing delays subgroup of the trial issues group has set up an inter-agency projects team, which includes the police and the Law Society to look into the problem.

It is set to report in January.

;Anne Mizzi