APPG on Miscarriages of Justice

[Fact Checker]

9 months on from the Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice, and 6 years on from the Justice Select Committee on the CCRC, the newly appointed Minister for Justice, Tom Pursglove MP, has told our supporters:

    "we continue to consider its findings... in my opinion the CCRC performs well".

There is now every risk that this government will completely ignore the Commission's recommendations, just as they ignored the Committee's recommendations. In this article, Mark explains why we can't afford to let this inquiry fade into obscurity and irrelevance, and sets out a road map for positive action.

https://www.freemarkalexander.org/dither-and-delay-over-miscarriages-of-justice-inquiry-findings/

You can write to your local MP today to press them to introduce these amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill; or to table a private members Bill implementing the 9 key legislative reforms Mark identifies from the Commission report. We would like to see this raised at Prime Minister's Questions or in an Early Day Motion.

Mark has previously published a series of articles discussing some of the issues facing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice:

1) Picking up the pieces from the 2015 Justice Select Committee

https://www.freemarkalexander.org/the-appg-on-miscarriages-of-justice-unfinished-business/

2) Improving the way the CCRC investigates cases

https://www.freemarkalexander.org/miscarriages-of-justice-investigations-going-beyond-the-bundle/

3) Making investigations more transparent, reducing delays, and improving disclosure

https://www.freemarkalexander.org/the-need-for-speed-improving-the-criminal-cases-review-commission/

4) Making the CCRC less deferential to the Court of Appeal

https://www.freemarkalexander.org/getting-a-wrongful-conviction-back-into-court-a-tortured-path/

5) Empowering judges to overturn decisions when juries get it wrong

https://www.freemarkalexander.org/wrongful-convictions-and-bad-juries-lurking-doubt-in-the-court-of-appeal/

[Miss Taken Identity]

A judge to overrule where a jury gets it wrong.

what did part did Mark's jury get wrong? Was the jury not directed by the judge? did they not have access to points of law? 

interesting fact check for the innocent, Mark was found guilty, so it doesn't apply to him.

[Fact Checker]

Thanks Mistaken. As you'll appreciate, any jury can make a mistake on the facts, interpret the evidence incorrectly, and so on. There is no provision in England and Wales for juries to explain the reasons why they reached their verdict, so there is no way for any convicted person to know what the basis of their conviction was. What precise facts swayed the jury? This makes it hard for the Court of Appeal to then second guess what was in the minds of the jurors.

Quite apart from Mark's individual circumstances, the importance of this particular reform is self evident. Mark is advocating for these reforms because he believes in the need for change, not just for his benefit, but for the benefit of any wrongly accused person. He believes passionately in the need for criminal justice reform. Mark has met and helped countless individuals in prison over the last 12 years who he saw had been poorly represented, and had suffered some form of injustice. These problems are routine and systemic, and must be addressed.

We would encourage you to raise these issues with your local MP.