This book focuses on the world's first publicly-funded body- the Criminal Cases Review Commission- to review alleged miscarriages of justice, set up following notorious cases such as the Birmingham Six in the UK. Providing a critique of its operations, the book shows that its help to innocent victims of wrongful conviction is merely incidental.

Autorentext

STEVEN BIRD established Bird& Co. solicitors in October 2000. He specialises in serious criminal cases and deals with potential miscarriages of justice and other matters in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) or by way of application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. KATHRYN CAMPBELL is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada DENNIS EADY is the Campaign Officer for South Wales Against Wrongful Convictions, a derivative of South Wales Liberty (SWL). ANDREW GREEN is the co-founder of United Against Injustice (UAI), a federal organisation of miscarriage of justice victim-support groups HAZEL KIERLE is a legal assistant in criminal and civil cases. She is the Director of Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO), (England and Wales), a human-rights-based organisation KEVIN KERRIGAN is Reader and Associate Dean at the School of Law, Northumbria University, UK GLYN MADDOCKS is a Partner and the Head of the Civil Litigation Department of Gabb& Co., UK. He specialises in all aspects of civil litigation including and in particular, personal injury, clinical negligence, public law and judicial review CAMPBELL MALONE is a Partner of Stephenson's law firm, UK, with an extensive experience in challenging miscarriages of justice PAUL MASON is Director of Postgraduate Research in the School for Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies (JOMEC) at Cardiff University, UK MARK NEWBYis a Solicitor and the Director of the Historical Abuse Appeal Panel (HAAP) RICHARD NOBLES is Professor in Law at Queen Mary, University of London, UK ROBERT SCHEHR is Professor of Criminal Justice in Northern Arizona University DAVID SCHIFF is Professor in Law at Queen Mary, University of London, UK SATISH SEKAR is a freelance journalist in the UK specialising in criminal justice issues, racism and miscarriages of justice GABE TAN is the Database Manager and Research Officer of the Innocence Network UK (INUK) CLIVE WALKER is Professor of Criminal Justice Studies and former Dean of the School of Law at the University of Leeds, UK

Inhalt
Introduction; M.Naughton PART I: SETTING THE SCENE The Importance of Innocence for the Criminal Justice System; M.Naughton PART II: VOLUNTARY SECTOR PERSPECTIVES Thoughts from a Victim Support Worker; H.Kierle Challenging the Refusal to Investigate Evidence Neglected by Trial; A.Green The Failure to Live Up to its Stated Values?: The Case of Michael Attwooll and John Roden; D.Eady The Failure of the Review of the Possible Wrongful Convictions Caused by Michael Heath; S.Sekar PART III: PRACTITIONER PERSPECTIVES Historical Abuse Cases: Why They Expose the Inadequacy of the Real Possibility Test; M.Newby Only the Freshest Will Do; C.Malone Applicant Solicitors: Friends or Foes?; G.Maddocks & G.Tan The Inadequacy of Legal Aid; S.Bird PART IV: ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVES After 10 Years: An Investment in Justice?; R.Nobles & D.Schiff Real Possibility or Fat Chance?; K.Kerrigan Press and Release: UK News Coverage of the CCRC Since 1996; P.Mason The CCRC as an Option for Canada: Forwards or Backwards?; C.Walker & K.Campbell A View from the United States; R.Schehr PART V: CONCLUSION Conclusion; M.Naughton References Index