Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 27
27
Accepted
Paragraph: 151
Work with CPS to enable urgent publication of pre-trial therapy guidance.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government work with the Crown Prosecution Service so that it is possible for the organisation to publish its guidance on pre-trial therapy as soon as possible. We understand the Crown Prosecution Service has been waiting on the Attorney General’s annual review of disclosure, but it has now been more than 18 months since the consultation on the guidance was launched and it is an urgent issue.
Government Response Summary
The government confirms that the Crown Prosecution Service published its updated pre-trial therapy guidance on 26 May, aligning with the publication of the Attorney General’s Disclosure guidelines, thus fulfilling the recommendation.
Paragraph Reference:
151
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
In October 2020 the CPS completed a public consultation exercise on draft pre-trial therapy guidance. In February 2022, the CPS published the Pre-trial Therapy Fundamental Principles which confirmed its commitment to a number of fundamental principles not impacted by the AGO review. These covered the prioritisation to be given to victim health and wellbeing, the need for practitioners to comply with data protection legislation and guidelines when handling victim’s personal material, and the limited circumstances when the content of therapy notes will be disclosed to the defence in criminal proceedings. Publication of the finalised guidelines was delayed in order to allow the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to complete its annual review of its Disclosure Guidelines as the principles are directly relevant to pre-trial therapy, specifically in relation to when the prosecution team has a duty to obtain therapy notes as part of a criminal investigation. The Attorney General’s Disclosure guidelines were published on 26 May and CPS published its updated pre-trial therapy guidance at the same time.