England and Wales: Fraud: Plea Negotiations

The Attorney General has published a consultation paper titled "The Introduction of a Plea Negotiation Framework for Fraud Cases in England and Wales". In the foreword it is stated:

"The proposals in this paper do not represent an attempt to replicate the systems operating in the USA or elsewhere in the world. What is appropriate and workable in other jurisdictions cannot automatically be expected to work here. However, we do want to encourage more plea negotiations between prosecution and defence at an early stage in fraud cases and we want to be more open about the process. Responses to the original Fraud Review were positive about the need for a change".

It has also been reported that the Government will soon give the Financial Services Authority "plea bargaining" powers.