Where government records that are the only evidence capable of corroborating a defendant's version of events are destroyed before charges are laid (even in accordance with statutory record-keeping obligations), a permanent stay of proceedings may be ordered as the trial would be necessarily unfair. The strength of the prosecution case without the destroyed evidence is irrelevant to the stay application. Applications for permanent stay on abuse of process grounds should generally be made before the prosecution case opens and dealt with as a preliminary step, though there is no hard and fast rule.
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