the upper hand in Magistrates court, lawyers have alleged.

Two renegade crown counsel were blamed for flouting the official policy of the Department of Public Prosecutors of letting defence lawyers see all the Police and witness statements.

Patrick Doherty, who only left the Department of Prosecutions a few weeks ago, said: "It's a principal of fundamental justice that an individual charged with a criminal offence or offences involving potential imprisonment should be given all Police statements and notes in regard to their case.

"To make a full answer in defence you have to know what the case is about in order to properly defend it. It goes back to the Magna Carta.'' Full disclosure is required in Supreme Court but he said some took the view that it was not necessary for a summary court -- despite a ruling to the contrary by the Privy Council.

Mr. Doherty added: "Some might view the Magistrate's court as a summary jurisdiction but they have the power to imprison somebody for up to five years.'' And former prosecutor Larry Mussenden, who is now defending clients in plea court, said it had always been the policy to give full disclosure under former Attorney General Elliot Mottley and under current Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo.

Mr. Mussenden said: "Recently, I don't know if the policy has been changed, but I was in a case earlier this week and the prosecutor would not disclose the defence statement. I had to ask the magistrate.'' He said most prosecutors and their back up staff were helpful -- a point noted by all the lawyers The Royal Gazette spoke to.

But he added: "It's individual crown counsels making these decision for themselves. It seems to be sneaking in.'' Fellow defence lawyer Richard Horseman said: "My experience is that it varies from case to case.

"Sometimes they provide them in time no problem. Sometimes you have to really argue in Magistrate's court.

"But the senior Magistrate Archie Warner takes the view that prosecutors must disclose statements.

"At the end of the day you are trying to get things done as quickly as possible but you can't start if you don't know what the witnesses are saying.'' New legislation in the pipeline requiring disclosure from prosecutors was a welcome move even though under common law that was already the case.

Lawyer Elizabeth Christopher said some prosecutors went out of their way to help the defence.

But she added: "The problem is not with individual prosecutors, it's with the system.

"From what I understand the DPP's office doesn't get the file until the week of or even the day before the trial is scheduled.

"It's a difficult problem -- they have to read the statements themselves and send them.'' She said if defence attorneys got files in advance it would stop hopeless cases going ahead which waste the court's time.

"The Police and the prosecutors must sit down together to get the entire system to work.'' The theme of disclosure by Crown was taken up by Juvenile Court Magistrate Carlisle Greaves yesterday as spoke on the roots of "disclosure'' of the Crown's case against a person to Crown Counsel Oonagh Goodred and defence lawyer Larry Mussenden.

Mr. Mussenden had asked for a complete file well in advance of a trial date for a boy accused of resisting arrest.

"The (English) Common Law had no time for disclosure -- that's from North America,'' he said. "But increasingly we (in the Commonwealth) are seeing disclosure.

"In the Caribbean we are very, very concerned with constitutionality,'' the Barbadian continued.

"That's the difference between an English trained lawyer and a Caribbean trained one. That's at the forefront all the time with a Caribbean trained lawyer.