Published by Bob Denaro (KPM) @ BDG Training Team The Government has published Modernising the Criminal Disclosure Regime (CP 1601), on 14th July 2026 which is its formal response to two of the most significant reviews of criminal disclosure in a generation. For anyone who investigates, prosecutes, or reviews cases under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, it is worth reading closely, not least because training and competence run through almost every commitmen

By Bob Denaro (KPM) @ the BDG Training Team · June 2026 Digital disclosure is a time-consuming, complex exercise and unless it is addressed from the earliest stage of an investigation, it will be challenging to complete it properly before trial. These are the key actions, drawn from Annex A of the Attorney General's Guidelines on Disclosure and the leading case law. Five key actions from the outset 1. Start early Consider disclosure from the earliest opportunity. Unless the d

By Bob denaro (KPM) @ the BDG Training Team · June 2026 Two Court of Appeal authorities define how investigators must manage digital material: R v Richards & Others [2015] EWCA Crim 1941 and R v Bater-James & Anor [2020] EWCA Crim 790. Their principles apply to every CPIA bound investigation involving digital material, regardless of scale. The obligations do not diminish because a case is smaller. R v Richards & Others [2015]: disclosure must be planned from day one [2015] EW

By Bob Denaro (KPM) BDG Training Team · April 2026 Digital evidence must be captured with a clear legal basis, protected by layers of security and unbroken audit trail, stored on access-controlled systems and for voluminous digital material early prosecutor engagement from the start. Handled incorrectly, digital material can be ruled inadmissible, expose your investigation to legal challenge, or collapse a prosecution entirely. Digital material now features in virtually every

The Fisher Review is the most significant examination of the disclosure regime since the CPIA came into force in 1996 — and its findings apply directly to every local authority investigator. Published in March 2025, Jonathan Fisher KC's Independent Review of Disclosure makes 45 recommendations aimed at modernising criminal disclosure. They are not confined to serious fraud or Crown Court cases: they reach every investigator bound by the CPIA. The six areas every investigator