Daria A. Tkacheva

This paper explores the development of disclosure of evidence and unused material in the Anglo-American criminal procedure by discussing the rights, duties and powers of its main actors — the prosecution, the defense and the court. Initially, the concepts of the dispute between the parties and trial by surprise entail the presumption of non-disclosure which stays in force until the XIXth century. Innovations of that time assign to the disclosure the function of providing the accused with the prosecution materials. The next step towards the refutation of the presumption is taken during the reforms of the 2nd half of the XXth century when the duties of the defendant are introduced by limiting the privilege against self-incrimination. The author concludes that English and American law-making bodies are expanding the scope of mandatory pretrial disclosure by both parties, expecting early access to case data to encourage the defendant to promptly plead guilty, the prosecutor to drop the charges and the court to dismiss the case. Together with guilty pleas, it marginalizes criminal trials. However, impediments to speeding up the process, such as the absence of an institutionalized category of criminal case files as well as the lack of criminal defense lawyers, still persist.