PRESERVING OF NOTES
All original notes made throughout the course of an investigation should be preserved regardless of the substance or material that was used to record the notes upon.
Original notes should never be re-written because the investigator wishes to make them look more presentable to a third party. Whilst an investigator should attempt to make notes neat and legible it is understood that there are occasions when the circumstances surrounding their making mean that they are written hurriedly on scrap pieces of paper.
No attempt to correct this should be made. If an investigator re-writes notes and later destroys the originals, the court may draw a sinister conclusion.
This resource is kindly provided by Wayne Carney of SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP AUSTRALIA.