“The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art.14(6) requires state parties to compensate those who have suffered ‘a miscarriage of justice’. Although the UK ratified the Covenant in 1976, for more than a decade compensation for miscarriages of justice continued to be paid by the Home Office only on an ex gratia basis. Payment was first put onto a statutory basis in 1988.”
Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 1st June 2013
Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk
“‘Unity is our secret weapon’ was the key message that emerged from this week’s unprecedented meeting of 1,000 defence lawyers who voted unanimously backing a motion that price competitive tendering was ‘not the way forward’, writes Jon Robins.”
LegalVoice, 24th May 2013
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
“Hundreds, some wearing wigs and gowns, demonstrate against justice secretary’s plans, which they say undermine UK justice.”
The Guardian, 22nd May 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A ComRes poll, commissioned by the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, today shows that seven out of ten (71%) of the British public are concerned that cuts to legal aid could lead to innocent people being convicted of crimes they did not commit. The poll, published this morning, also shows that two-thirds (67%) of the British public agree that legal aid is a price worth paying for living in a fair society.”
The Bar Council, 21st May 2013
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
“More than 70% of the public fear that further cuts to legal aid could result in innocent people being convicted of crimes they did not commit, according to an opinion poll released by the Bar Council.”
The Guardian, 21st May 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“England’s 800-year-old tradition of fair and open access to justice for all will
be destroyed by sweeping Government plans to reform criminal legal aid, senior
judges and magistrates warn today.”
The Independent, 28th April 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Kevin Lane was jailed for life for the 1994 murder of Robert Magill, and given a tariff of eighteen years. As his daily updated website indicates, he has now completed that tariff plus 46 days. However, he has not yet been released because he continues to protest his innocence.”
The Guardian, 26th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“What is it like if your brother or son is convicted of murder when you are convinced they are innocent? We meet three women who have fought for years to prove their loved ones’ innocence.”
The Guardian, 16th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Long-awaited guidance for the crown prosecution service on a law used to fight gang violence could help prevent miscarriages of justice.”
The Guardian, 5th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Eddie Gilfoyle’s case is one of a relatively small number of alleged miscarriages of justice that stubbornly refuse to go away. On 4 June 1992, his wife, Paula Gilfoyle, was found, eight and a half months pregnant, hanging from a rope tied to a roof beam in the garage. For the last 20 years Mr Gilfoyle has protested his innocence, arguing that Paula’s death was a tragic suicide. The prosecution argument was that expectant mothers don’t kill themselves, especially bubbly young women with everything to live for.
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 15th February 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Regina (Ali and others) v Secretary of State for Justice: [2013] EWHC 72 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 35
“A useful test to determine whether an individual, whose conviction had been quashed on the basis of new evidence, qualified for compensation under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 on the ground of miscarriage of justice, was whether he had established, beyond reasonable doubt, that no reasonable jury (or magistrates) properly directed as to the law, could convict on the evidence now to be considered.”
WLR Daily, 25th January 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“Barry George, who spent eight years in prison after being wrongly convicted of
the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando, has lost his High Court bid for
compensation as a victim of a ‘miscarriage of justice’.”
Daily Telegraph, 25th January 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Some 1,400 soldiers who were cautioned by the police may have been unfairly penalised after an error by the Army led to them being wrongly disciplined.”
BBC News, 7th January 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Victims of miscarriages of justice await Lorraine Allen judgment with hope.”
The Guardian, 21st November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Lorraine Allen is an unlikely crusader for justice. The 43-year-old grandmother wants the world to forget that she was wrongly accused of killing her baby and leave her to get on with life. But first she needs the authorities to accept that she was wrongly convicted and make amends. That could happen this week when Europe’s highest court for human rights hears Mrs Allen’s plea for compensation 12 years after she was wrongfully imprisoned for shaking her four-month-old son to death.”
The Independent, 11th November 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Barry George, who spent eight years in prison after being wrongly convicted of the murder of the TV presenter Jill Dando, today launched a test case bid to overturn a ‘defective’ decision denying him compensation.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th October 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The case of the Cardiff Three was a gross miscarriage of justice which, 24 years on, remains unresolved. Can a report into the failed prosecution of eight police officers shed new light?”
The Guardian, 17th September 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Freddy Patel case shows how market forces inevitably lead to creeping deregulation if applied to the legal system.”
The Guardian, 29th August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Investigators are reviewing 90 cases in the Cleveland Police force area after the arrest of a former scenes of crime officer.”
BBC News, 28th August 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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