Justice for Mark Alexander

A family's fight for their son's freedom

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Criminal Cases Review Commission

Secretary of State refers Court of Appeal Safety Test to Law Commission

Reading Time: 4 minutesThe 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...

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Dither and Delay over Miscarriages of Justice Inquiry Findings

Reading Time: 7 minutesWhen 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...

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Miscarriages of Justice Investigations – Going Beyond the Bundle

Reading Time: 5 minutesDeconstructing 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...

The Need for Speed – Improving the Criminal Cases Review Commission

Reading Time: 5 minutesOne 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...

Wrongful Convictions and Bad Juries – ‘Lurking Doubt’ in the Court of Appeal

Reading Time: 8 minutesProving 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...

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Getting a Wrongful Conviction back into Court: A tortured path

Reading Time: 5 minutesMost 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...

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The APPG on Miscarriages of Justice – Unfinished Business

Reading Time: 4 minutesIn 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...

Mark issues statement regarding CCRC’s refusal to refer his case

Reading Time: 6 minutesIn 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...

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CCRC response to formal complaint

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis 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.