A watching brief is a legal process in which a legal practitioner observes and monitors the arrest and prosecution of an accused person, to ensure that the law as well as due process are upheld.
The legal practitioner will be acting under the instruction of a client, who is either the complainant or the victim in the matter. The role of the legal practitioner is to observe and ensure that the law is complied with, securing a conviction is not one of the duties of the legal practitioner.
Usually, criminal prosecutions are done at the instance of the State (prosecutor) who represents the complainant and/or the victims, and in instances of a watching brief the legal practitioner works with the prosecution to ensure that criminal procedure and the law are observed during the course of the trial. Some of the other duties that a legal practitioner may perform include ensuring that the accused is charged correctly; that the charge sheet and State outline are properly drafted, that the rightful witnesses are selected and their statements are recorded, the rightful evidence is secured and presented at trial, and helping to prepare questions to be asked during trial.
Take note that a watching brief is not exercised in a bid to undermine the State. A legal practitioner has no audience with the court and will only introduce themselves at the beginning of the case, anything else that they want to say shall be done through the prosecutor as the prosecution is trying the case. There are some advantages to such process as it reduces the chances of bribery of either the Judicial officer and or prosecutor; ensures that no deliberate efforts by the prosecutor to have the accused acquitted prevail, and allowing for the prevalence of justice.
The watching brief process is very useful as it tends to reduce instances of corruption or bribery of the state and or police officials by the accused person or their relatives (not the case in all instances).
This article is for general information purposes only. Seek legal advice from your Lawyer
