An extraordinary case from the Court of Appeal was reported in The Times on June 21.
The prosecution had refused to disclose allegedly indecent images to the defence team on the grounds that they (the prosecutors) would themselves be committing an offence if they did so.
They had been prepared to allow them to be viewed on a laptop in a glass walled court conference room, with a police officer outside the room in order to maintain some form of control against possible misuse.
The judges, thank heavens, made pretty short shrift of the argument that the Crown Prosecution Service or the police might be guilty of a crime in providing the material in a way which made it possible for the defendant to have a confidential discussion of it with his lawyers.
But in this area as in others, we seem dangerously to tremble on the brink of saying that only the prosecution is allowed to know what evidence they have against you.
I am left puzzled about what happens when such cases go to the jury. Presumably they have to be kept under observation while they view the material.
