DM-7 Response Accepted Self-assessed

CPS guidance on disclosure for profit

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Crown Prosecution Service's additional guidance should be amended to include a requirement that the Prosecutor should consider whether the information was disclosed with a view to one or both parties securing future profit from the use of that material. Moreover, the additional guidance should also be amended to note that the advantage to the parties disclosing the document(s) may not be purely financial but, as in the case of former DCS David Cook and Michael Sullivan, could be reputational and could have improved their employability in the future.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) updated its guidance on 16 February 2022 to include consideration of whether information was disclosed with a view to securing future profit or other anticipated personal gain (Official government response, June 2023). This updated guidance sets out non-exhaustive factors for assessing a suspect's criminality, explicitly noting that advantage can extend beyond financial gain.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
Volume 1
Response
Accepted
Accepted Crown Prosecution Service
22 Jun 2023

The CPS has updated its guidance and this was published on 16 February 2022. The guidance sets out a list of non-exhaustive factors to be considered when assessing the overall criminality of a suspect, including their motivation, and now includes confirmation that advantage need not be financial but could include other forms of anticipated personal gain.

Read Full Response
Source
Report The Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel 15 Jun 2021
Responsible Bodies
Crown Prosecution Service Primary
Recommendation age 4.8 yrs
Last formal update 1006 days ago