Dr Michael Naughton: 'The CCRC: Hope for the Innocent?' reviewed
25 January 2010
The book examines the CCRC’s responsibilities for assessing whether convictions or sentences should be referred to a court of appeal.It highlights that, contrary to public opinion, the CCRC does not consider innocence or guilt, but seeks new evidence or argument that may cast doubt on the safety of an original decision. It also explores the limitations placed on the CCRC by its governing statute, which hinder its independence from the appeal courts, and its working practices, which prevent the referral of cases in which victims may be factually innocent.
This means that people who may be innocent and who are unable to fulfil this criteria will stay in prison, as the CCRC does not conduct full investigations of claims of innocence. Neither will the CCRC look for proof of innocence in unused evidence available at the time of the original trial, as it is unlikely to yield grounds for appeal because it is not fresh.
Bringing together critical perspectives from campaigners, prominent criminal appeal practitioners, victim support workers and leading academics, the book compares the CCRC with existing systems in Scotland, the US and Canada that deal with alleged wrongful convictions.
The book was reviewed by Duncan Campbell in The Guardian (16 Jan),
Please contact Dr Michael Naughton for further information.
Further information:
Dr Michael Naughton is Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and the Department of Sociology, at the University of Bristol, UK. He is the Founder and Director of the Innocence Network UK (INUK), the umbrella organisation for approximately 25 member innocence projects in universities in England, Scotland and Wales. He is Founder and Director of the University of Bristol Innocence Project, through which he coordinates student reviews and investigations of alleged wrongful imprisonment of the innocent case. He is also a Steering Group member of Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence, which is actively engaged various governmental and non-governmental organisations. He has written widely on miscarriages of justice and the wrongful conviction of the innocent and is the author of 'Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg'.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is an independent public body set up to review possible miscarriages of justice and decide if they should be referred to an appeal court. It was set up as a non-departmental body on 1 January 1997 and took over responsibility from the Home Office and Northern Ireland Office for reviewing suspected miscarriages of justice on 31 March 1997. The Commission has jurisdiction over criminal cases at any Magistrates’ or Crown Court in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The role of the CCRC is to review the cases of those that feel they have been wrongly convicted of criminal offences, or unfairly sentenced. The CCRC does not consider innocence or guilt, but whether there is new evidence or argument that may cast doubt on the safety of an original decision. Once the CCRC has completed their investigations into a case, they can refer it back to the appropriate appeal court for re-consideration.
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