What is a Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC)?
If you’re involved in a Criminal case in Court and you’ve chosen to claim trial and challenge or contest the charges against you, the case may move towards a Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC) taking place.
Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC) is a Court hearing that takes place during the Criminal disclosure process – this is a formalised system of reciprocal disclosure to facilitate smoother trials. This means that both you and the Prosecution will be under a duty to reveal aspects of your cases and the evidence that each of your plan to rely on at the pre-trial stage.
By choosing to go through the CCDC process, you can gain a better understanding of the Prosecution’s Case. This is because you’ll have an opportunity to get see some of the key evidence that the Prosecution has and can use against you in Court, and, importantly, this will give you an opportunity to plan how you can present your defence during the trial. However, the trade-off is that you’ll also need to disclose to the Prosecution the key parts of your defence and the main explanations that you’re planning to present at the trial.
You should know that the Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC) process is only applicable to specific types of cases. What this means is that the CCDC will only apply to your case if your charge or the offence you’re charged for comes under one of the specified laws, for example:
- Penal Code
- Arms and Explosives Act
- Arms Offences Act
- Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act
- Misuse of Drugs Act
- Immigration Act (other than sections 6 and 15)
- Internal Security Act
- Official Secrets Act
- Prisons Act
- Vandalism Act
How do you apply for the Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC)?
At the first Pre-Trial Conference in your case, the Court will let you know whether the Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC) applies to your case and you’ll be asked to indicate whether you want to participate in the CCDC process. For all other cases, the CCDC will only apply if all parties involved in the proceedings consent.
Should you participate in the CCDC?
Participation in CCDC is optional and not compulsory, meaning that it is entirely your decision as to whether you want to participate or not.
As mentioned earlier, participating in the Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC) can help you get a better understanding of the Prosecution’s evidence against you, which will, in turn, help you decide the best course of action to take. However, you’ll have to be prepared to comply with the Judge’s decision to prepare the documents in order to facilitate the CCDC.
If you choose not to participate in the Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC), the Court will proceed to schedule a date for trial once the administrative matters have been sorted out. However, you would not have had a chance to think through the Prosecution’s evidence before the trial. Similarly, the Prosecution would not get to understand and consider your evidence, which can have, in some situations, led to a reduced charge.
So, there you’ve it, some basic information on: What is a Criminal Case Disclosure Conference (CCDC). For more information, contact our criminal lawyers in Singapore.
