Lord Coulsfield's analysis and recommendation: 15.8 Safeguards against the misuse of disclosed material by a solicitor or advocate are already in place, but there is no corresponding safeguard in place governing the use that an unrepresented accused can make of disclosed material. 15.13 The main issue therefore concerns misuse of disclosed material by accused persons or third parties. If an accused, or a third party, were to use material provided to them by the prosecuting authorities to intimidate or even threaten a witness, then it is open to the Crown to prosecute that person for attempting to pervert the course of justice. This would not, however, cover the case where the accused, or third party, misuses disclosed material in other ways, for example, to embarrass the witness in the community. 15.14 In England and Wales, sections 17 and 18 of the CPIA make provision for the confidentiality of disclosed information. In essence, section 17 sets out that, where an accused is given or allowed to inspect a document or other object as part of the disclosure process, then the accused may only use or disclose that object or information (a) in connection with the proceedings for which the material was disclosed, (b) with a view to the taking of further criminal proceedings (for instance, by way of an appeal) or (c) in connection with such further proceedings. 15.15 Section 18 provides that it is a contempt of court for a person knowingly to use or disclose an object or information recorded in it if the use or disclosure of it is in contravention of section 17 of the CPIA. 15.16 Introducing similar legislation in Scotland would be a logical companion to a more rigorous system of disclosure by the prosecution authorities. R35. Given the increase in the amount of personal information which may require to be disclosed in different types of cases, there should be legislation making it an offence to misuse disclosed information, similar to that in England and Wales. |