Today the Government publishes Modernising the Criminal Disclosure Regime, setting out our response to recommendations made by the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences and the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts on the operation of the criminal disclosure regime.

We are grateful to Jonathan Fisher KC for his thorough Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences which has been published in two parts. This Government Response refers to Part One of his Independent Review: Disclosure in the Digital Age. The Government Response to Part Two on Fraud Offences will be published in due course.

Disclosure is a statutory regime that applies to all criminal proceedings in England and Wales and is central to the right to a fair trial. It governs how material gathered in criminal investigations is recorded, reviewed, retained and shared, ensuring that relevant material capable of assisting the defence or undermining the prosecution is identified and disclosed.

Part One of this Review reflects extensive engagement across the system and offers a practical package to raise standards, embracing appropriate technology, strengthening case management with an Intensive Disclosure Regime for the most complex cases, and consolidating guidance and learning so that good practice is embedded consistently.

We also thank Sir Brian Leveson for his work on the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, which included proposals related to disclosure, set out in Chapter Five of Part Two of his Independent Review. Our response considers Sir Brian Leveson’s proposals, alongside Jonathan Fisher KC’s proposals, which have enabled the Government to evaluate and implement disclosure reform collectively, drawing on the findings of both Reviews. The Government’s full response to Sir Brian’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts will be published separately in due course

The Government response to these recommendations sets out how we will improve the disclosure regime while preserving its core legal safeguards. In summary, it supports the responsible and transparent use of advanced technology to manage large volumes of material more efficiently; strengthens learning, training and consistency across law enforcement and prosecutors; and considers improved court processes, including exploring a pilot of the proposed Intensive Disclosure Regime to support earlier, more focused engagement between the prosecution and defence in the most serious and complex cases.

Taken together, these measures are designed to reduce unnecessary administrative burden on police and prosecutors, improve the speed and accuracy of disclosure, support victims, and uphold the right to a fair trial. This will deliver a disclosure regime that is transparent, modern and fit for the future.

This response has been developed jointly with the Ministry of Justice, owners of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and its Code of Practice, and the Attorney General’s Office, which owns the Attorney General’s Guidelines on Disclosure. I am very grateful to the Solicitor General, the Courts Minister and officials across all three departments for their close collaboration in producing a coherent, system wide response.

The response is being presented to Parliament today as a Command Paper (CP 1601) and will be available on GOV.UK.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2026-07-14.hcws241.0