The Government has moved a step closer to introducing formal plea-bargaining in UK fraud trials after the Attorney General launched a consultation into the issue last week (3 April).

The consultation runs for the next three months and will seek opinion from across the profession as Whitehall looks to improve its record fighting white-collar crime and reduce the cost of lengthy fraud trials. Responses are expected to be summarised in a report due in October.

The introduction of plea negotiations was among the key recommendations taken on by the Government following its long-running Fraud Review.

Plea-bargaining is regarded in the US as a major factor in combating white-collar crime, though its use has become increasingly controversial in recent years amid mounting criticism of aggressive prosecution tactics.

The issue was highlighted late last year when a trio of former NatWest bankers facing prosecution in the US on fraud charges relating to the Enron collapse cut the maximum sentence facing them from 35 years to 37 months after pleading guilty to reduced charges.

Commenting on the proposals, the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, said: "This is not about mirroring the US system of plea bargaining. Clearly, the US system would not work within our own legal system, but I believe the framework this group has produced could show us exactly how we might achieve early pleas and shorter, less expensive fraud trials."