44 Trial Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners though this might be expanded over time. For example, the agreement might refer to the types of cases, such as detention hearings or those dealing with trafficking in human beings, for which investigative proceedings provide essential information. The scope may also relate to the timing of a programme’s access to investigations, e.g., only after a suspect has been notified of proceedings against her/him. Any agreement should provide sufficient guarantees to the authorities that confidential information will not be released. Managers will also need to establish a system for the early identification of cases to be monitored at the investigative stage. In the past, certain OSCE programmes reached agreements with prosecutorial authorities on systems of notification of a certain type of cases. Others relied on daily police reports, which summarized criminal incidents and noted the arrests of suspects, to the extent that these reports enabled monitors to approach the authorities and inquire about developments in a case of interest. Monitoring investigations and pre-trial proceedings can provide a programme with a more complete view of a justice system’s functioning, particularly in sensitive cases where human rights abuses are likely to occur at these stages. If a programme cannot gain formal access to investigative proceedings, it can seek to obtain information indirectly. It might inquire with the parties about known cases or seek access to the case file at the trial stage to gain knowledge of procedural actions that took place during earlier stages.