Reading Time: 4minutes The Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab has confirmed to us that he has asked the Law Commission “to consider including a review” of the threshold test for overturning convictions in the Criminal Appeals Court, in line with recommendations made by the Westminister Commission on Miscarriages...
by admin · Published December 3, 2021
· Last modified March 2, 2023
Reading Time: 7minutes When the Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice published the findings of its inquiry into the Criminal Cases Review Commission (‘In the Interests of Justice’) on 5 March 2021, it made over 40 recommendations. Whilst the vast majority of these were directed at the CCRC, 9 of the recommendations made...
by admin · Published December 7, 2020
· Last modified January 6, 2021
Reading Time: 5minutes Deconstructing a wrongful conviction is a painstaking process. Often, once all the tripwires that floored the original jury have been carefully exposed, a case will require extensive investigative efforts to reveal previously unseen evidence that can exonerate the individual, or at least raise serious doubts about the veracity of the...
by admin · Published November 30, 2020
· Last modified December 1, 2020
Reading Time: 5minutes One of the many problems plaguing the Criminal Cases Review Commission – the body set up to review potential miscarriages of justice in England and Wales – is the sheer length of time that it takes them to consider any given application. To help address the issue, the House of...
by admin · Published November 7, 2020
· Last modified May 11, 2022
Reading Time: 8minutes Proving your innocence in most cases requires finding some ‘fresh evidence’ that wasn’t available at your original trial, a challenge that stops many a wrongly convicted person in their tracks. Unless you are one of the lucky few able to acquire pro bono support, conducting a private investigation from behind...
by admin · Published October 31, 2020
· Last modified December 1, 2020
Reading Time: 5minutes Most people wrongly convicted of a crime are quick to lodge an appeal within the allotted 28-day time limit. Unless there was something seriously wrong with the actual trial process however, your only hope of an acquittal is to find some fresh evidence that wasn’t available just a week or...
by admin · Published October 13, 2020
· Last modified November 6, 2020
Reading Time: 4minutes In 2019, a Westminster Commission made up of a growing number of MPs concerned by the rising tide of wrongful convictions across England and Wales was formed across party political lines in search of solutions. Establishing an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice (APPGMJ), they launched a public inquiry...
by admin · Published April 2, 2015
· Last modified January 6, 2021
Reading Time: 6minutes In 2015, the CCRC opted not to refer our first application to the Court of Appeal In spite of the new evidence we presented to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), it has decided not to refer my case to the Court of Appeal. This is because the CCRC do...
by admin · Published March 25, 2015
· Last modified January 6, 2021
Reading Time: < 1minute This was the CCRC’s formal response to Mark’s complaint, following their decision not to refer his case to the Court of Appeal. You can read Mark’s reaction here.
“Mark won an Arnold Foundation Scholarship to study as a boarder in the Sixth Form at Rugby School in 2004. He was a naturally talented singing pupil. Through diligence, he made very rapid progress and was soon picked to sing solos in major school productions. During his two years at the school he gave generously of his time and effort; the musical life of the school was richer as a result.
In all of this, Mark demonstrated ability, intelligence, courage and confidence. The fact that he was entrusted with the responsibility of these performances and that he acquitted himself very well shows his reliability in difficult circumstances. He responded well to the challenges which were given him; behaving at all times with maturity and determination.
I am astonished and extremely sorry that Mark finds himself in his current situation. I cannot believe that the boy whom I knew would be capable of such things”
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