Fraud trial reform hits buffers as Attorney General report on plea-bargaining is pushed back

A report setting out proposals for the introduction of plea-bargaining in UK fraud trials has been delayed until at least the end of the year.

The Attorney General report was due to be published earlier in October but has now been pushed back by several months.

The Attorney General's office said the delay – which could extend until early next year – would allow the report to take account of a separate Government consultation currently underway looking at extending the powers of the Crown Court to prevent fraud and compensate victims.

The introduction of plea negotiations was among key recommendations taken up by the Government following its Fraud Review, which produced its recommendations in July 2006. Whitehall has been seeking to improve its record fighting white-collar crime and reducing the costs of lengthy fraud trials.

When the consultation launched in April this year, 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."

There is growing support for the introduction of plea-bargaining in the UK and it now looks likely to happen. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is in favour of the measure as are many City partners. A Legal Week Big Question survey as far back as 2006 showed 71% of respondents supporting the introduction of plea-bargaining in UK fraud trials.

The issue was most recently 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.