Whereas the BC Crown Counsel Policy Manuals guidelines regarding charge assessment states that unless impracticable to do so, police will lay an Information charging a person with an offence only after approval of charges by Crown Counsel has been given; And whereas police responsibilities regarding disclosure in criminal and regulatory offence proceedings is defined in the Disclosure Memorandum of Understanding between the BC Prosecution Service, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada BC and all BC police agencies, Crown Counsels responsibility in accordance with the Crown Counsel Act, is to examine all relevant information and documents and, following the examination, to approve for prosecution any offence or offences that he or she considers appropriate; And whereas the costs and hours required to prepare a fulsome disclosure before charges are approved by Crown Counsel, can result in delays in charges being laid: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM petition the BC Prosecution Service to work with all police agencies in British Columbia to improve efficiencies in disclosure and information management practices in order to reduce delays in charges being laid for the prosecution of criminal offences.
Attorney General and Minister responsible for Housing The BC Prosecution Service BCPS is actively working with all police agencies in British Columbia to improve efficiencies in the disclosure process and reduce delays. In 2016, the BCPS undertook a comprehensive review of B.C.s current disclosure processes with the aim of enhancing disclosure by making it more efficient and relieving the workload pressures associated with disclosure for both the BCPS and B.C. police agencies. The Comprehensive Disclosure Strategy that resulted from this review is informed by the active participation and collective experiences of members from the BCPS, the RCMP, and municipal police agencies. One of the goals of the strategy is to devise an end-to-end system that allows for the expeditious flow of disclosure materials in digital form from police investigators to the BCPS and ultimately to the accused person. The Digital Evidence and Disclosure Management System will be the BCPSs core element in the end-to-end management of digital evidence, with integrations to police and BCPS databases. The project envisions a standardized digital system and uniform formatting that will facilitate the expeditious flow of digital investigative materials from BC police agencies across the province to the BCPS for charge assessment and prosecution. Currently in the configuration phase, it is anticipated that, once in place, Digital Evidence and Disclosure Management System will reduce delay in the transmission of investigative materials to the BCPS and will improve the efficiencies in disclosure and information management practices. On August 17, 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding MOU was signed between the BCPS, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, and all police agencies in British Columbia. The new MOU updated and clarified the responsibilities of police and prosecutors for providing disclosure in criminal and regulatory offence proceedings, laying the groundwork for making all disclosure processes digital. https:www2.gov.bc.caassetsgovlaw-crime-and-justicecriminal-justiceprose…