Digital Disclosure & Fraud Offences Update 2025 by Narita Bahra KC & Don Ramble

‘Disclosure in the Digital Age: The Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences’ (March 2025) can be read here. This Review provides a timely and exceptionally thorough analysis of the disclosure challenges encountered in large and complex fraud cases but more importantly proposes solutions to fix those problems. 

Updates To The Text

The Review considers and tests the very fundamentals of the current disclosure regime as shown by these words in paragraph 18:

“I have given careful consideration as to whether the regime for handling unused material set out in the CPIA is structurally sound, or whether an alternative system, whereby a prosecutor affords a defendant open access to all unused material, should be preferred. This system is sometimes referred to as ‘giving the keys to the warehouse’, in which a defendant is given access to all the prosecution’s material. I have concluded that this would not be the best way forward, as it simply cannot be transplanted into the English and Welsh criminal justice system without a substantial change to our underlying philosophy on justice, revision to data protection legislation and an appetite to substantially increase the State’s spending on criminal justice. However, I have come to the view that there is space for greater flexibility in the prosecution’s consideration of sharing material that a defendant owned or had access to. A new route for such disclosure is recommended.”

What stands out most in the Review is the proposal for an Intensive Disclosure Regime (IDR) to be applied in appropriate cases. Paragraphs 499 and 500 of the Review state:

“As has been identified, cases with exceptionally high volumes of digital material pose a unique set of challenges to the way in which they are investigated, prosecuted and defended. As outlined in part three of the report, several cases proceeded over many years, only to finally collapse before a jury could return a verdict. This not uncommon occurrence, especially in serious or complex fraud cases, demonstrates the dysfunction of the current process.

To address the challenges, I propose the establishment of a bespoke process for these high-volume cases, termed the Intensive Disclosure Regime (IDR). I believe a new regime will deliver upon the five pillars of a modern disclosure regime by creating a more effective and efficient process, for all parties to come to an agreement on material that should be sought and shared, coupled with oversight of the court’s requirements…”

An example of one of the recommendations for an IDR case is that, “The prosecution will provide the court with an updated Disclosure Management Document containing full details regarding the configuration and operation of any advanced technology they have or propose to use, for material management and disclosure purposes.”

Whilst the recommendations are sound and implementation would result in positive advancement in the criminal justice system, the real question remains whether the government will provide the resources and funding, so desperately required.

Managing Digital Disclosure in all cases, in particular those involving Financial Crime, is an extremely important task for all practitioners, whether you prosecute or defend. 

Practitioners will be assisted upon practical guidance on the disclosure regime and digital disclosure, by reference to Tackling Disclosure in the Criminal Courts – A Practitioner’s Guide (Second Edition Focusing on Digital Disclosure) by Narita Bahra KC (33 Chancery Lane) and Don Ramble (5 St. Andrew’s Hill). 

Where to read Tackling Disclosure in the Criminal Courts – A Practitioner’s Guide

A free chapter is available for reading here. 

The book can be purchased here.