Police chiefs slam trial system

Leading police officers launched an attack on the criminal justice system last week, claiming that trials have become 'more like a game than a search for the truth' and that defence lawyers 'enjoy an unfair advantage'.The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) - supported by the Superintendents Association and the Police Federation - called for a series of reforms, including the right of appeal by the prosecution in prematurely terminated cases and the disclosure of defendants' previous convictions if material to the case.Sir Charles Pollard, chief constable of Thames Valley Police, said: 'Currently there exists an imbalance in that the prosecution has to place evidence before the court in a fair and even-handed way, while the defence has a totally adversarial remit, in which anything goes.

Trials are now taken over by bureaucracy and red tape and the situation must be rectified.'ACPO also called for a 'review of the self-governing Bar Council and Law Society codes of practice to ensure lawyers have clear guidance on standards of professional conduct', without specifying which aspects were causing concern.ACPO president Sir David Phillips said: 'You cannot blame lawyers for using these tactics, as they are playing the game within the current rules, but you can blame the system.

This is what needs to change.'He added that there should be a pre-trial process where defence lawyers disclose information to the same extent as the prosecution and a requirement that the same barrister sees a case through from beginning to end.Law Society Vice-President Carolyn Kirby led the mixed reactions to the proposals.

'We believe that there is a need for much fuller debate on how criminal trials are conducted, but do not accept that the current shortcomings are caused by defence lawyers exploiting loopholes in the law or that the solution lies in changes to the codes of conduct of advocates in court,' she said.Rodney Warren, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said he did not accept that defendants had the upper hand in criminal trials.

'If one goes down the road of determination to prove a conviction, then the innocent as well as the guilty will be sentenced,' he warned.Andrew Towler