§ discipline

Prosecutorial duty of disclosure court

A prosecutor must disclose to the defence, as soon as practicable, all material relevant to the accused's guilt or innocence and call or notify the relevant witnesses, subject only to limited integrity or safety exceptions.

19 cases 26% strike-off avg suspension 40.7 mo avg fine 100,000 7 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code no clear equivalent
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook no clear equivalent
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 no clear equivalent
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 29.5; 29.7 strong
29.5 A prosecutor must disclose to the opponent as soon as practicable all material... which could constitute evidence relevant to the guilt or innocence of the accused other than material subject to statutory immunity, unless the prosecutor believes on reasonable grounds that such disclosure... would seriously threaten the integrity of the administration of justice... or the safety of any person. 29.7 A prosecutor must call as part of the prosecution's case all witnesses...

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr86,88 strong
A prosecutor must disclose to the opponent as soon as practicable all material ... which could constitute evidence relevant to the guilt or innocence of the accused other than material subject to statutory immunity ... A prosecutor must call as part of the prosecution's case all witnesses: (a) whose testimony is admissible and necessary for the presentation of all of the relevant circumstances.

Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — Criminal cases: The solicitor prosecutor strong
The names of all witnesses and all material facts must be disclosed to the court, irrespective of whether the witnesses and facts are detrimental to the prosecution case... where a prosecutor obtains evidence that may assist the defence, or learns of witnesses who may do so, the prosecutor must supply the defence with the particulars of the evidence and the names of the witnesses.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 10.23 strong
A prosecuting Barrister must use his best endeavours, and if necessary seek appropriate court rulings, to ensure that all potentially relevant material in the possession of the prosecution is disclosed to the defence.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon III(h) strong
An Attorney engaged in conducting the prosecution of an accused person has a primary duty to see that justice is done and he shall not withhold facts or secrete witnesses which tend to establish the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code no clear equivalent
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 5.1-3 commentary [1] strong
The prosecutor ... should make timely disclosure to defence counsel or directly to an unrepresented accused of all relevant and known facts and witnesses, whether tending to show guilt or innocence.

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 2.1-1(b) strong 1 case
When engaged as a Crown prosecutor, a lawyer's primary duty is not to seek a conviction but to see that justice is done; to that end the lawyer should make timely disclosure to the defence of all facts and known witnesses whether tending to show guilt or innocence, or that would affect the punishment of the accused.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.12(a) strong
A prosecuting lawyer must act fairly and impartially at all times and in doing this must— (a) comply with all obligations concerning disclosure to the defence of evidence material to the prosecution and the defence;

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 15 (Conducting the prosecution in criminal proceedings) partial
15 Conducting the prosecution in criminal proceedings

Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.14 Commentary 2 strong
if he knows of a credible witness who can speak to material facts which tend to cast doubt on the prosecution's evidence or to show the accused to be innocent, he must either call that witness himself or make his statement available to the defence ... A prosecutor must reveal to the defence factual evidence of which he has knowledge and which is inconsistent with that which he ... has presented.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.68 strong
Prosecuting Counsel should use his best endeavours to see to the proper disclosure of material by the prosecution pursuant to the duties imposed upon it by the law and as supplemented to by the prevailing prosecutorial policy from time to time promulgated by the Department of Justice.

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

19 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.