A US-style plea bargaining initiative has been put forward under fraud reform proposals announced this week by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith. The new bargaining tool would act as an alternative to a full criminal trial and has been suggested along with the creation of a national fraud agency set up as a public/private partnership. The proposals mark the culmination of a review begun in October 2005 to address the growing problem of organised fraud in the UK. They also call for an extension of the High Court’s jurisdiction to deal with all aspects of fraud using judges drawn from both the Crown and High Court.
First reported on legalweek.com (25 July).
