Attorney General's Guidelines On Plea Discussions In Cases Of Serious Or Complex Fraud

In a move that will evoke comparisons with US style plea

bargaining the Attorney General has issued Guidelines on plea

discussions in cases of serious or complex fraud.

Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Richard Alderman refers to

the measures "streamlining systems and delivering faster

justice".

The Guidelines require a Defendant to be legally represented

before entering negotiations and discussions can even take place

before a suspect has been charged. The Guidelines reflect a much

more formal approach than the current system involving informal

discussions of pleas.

Attorney General Baroness Scotland feels that the measures

"are designed to help Prosecutors deal with fraud more

effectively and efficiently, to the benefit of the public and all

parties involved." The Attorney General goes on to state that

" the Guidelines should put discussions about plea and

possible sentence on a much clearer footing in fraud cases.

As from the 5th May 2009 The Attorney General's

Guidelines on plea discussions in cases of serious or complex fraud

come into force.

Introduction

Fraud means any financial, fiscal, commercial, misconduct or

corruption. The Fraud can be serious or complex which requires two

of the following factors, value in excess of £500,000;

international dimension; specialised knowledge, numerous victims,

substantial/significant fraud on a public body; widespread public

concern; or misconduct endangering the economic wellbeing of the

UK.

The decision as to whether a case is one of fraud and the level

of its complexity or seriousness lies with the prosecutor.

The prosecutor is still bound by the Code for Crown Prosecutors,

and must not proceed with more charges to encourage a defendant to

plead guilty to a few, nor charge a more serious offence to

encourage a defendant to plead to a less serious one. In

circumstances where a defendant will plead guilty to some, but not

all, of the charges or to a less serious charge, the Code makes

this acceptable if the prosecutor assesses that the court could

still pass an adequate sentence.

Plea discussions are intended to reduce the issues in the hope

of reaching an agreement about acceptable guilty pleas and

preparing a joint submission as to sentence.

Plea discussions can take place before charge with charges

reflecting an agreement between prosecution and defence. They make

take place before a criminal investigation is complete.

The guidelines have no bearing upon the existing practice of

sentence indications at PCMH hearings or later in accordance with

the case of R-v-Goodyear (2005) EWCA 888, rather than they are

intended to be complementary.

Where a plea agreement is reached it is a matter for the court

to decide how to deal with the case.

General Principles

The plea agreement must reflect the seriousness and extent of

any offending, it must give the court adequate sentencing powers

and the prosecutor must carefully consider the impact of the

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