The following guidance was prepared by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and is endorsed by the Law Society.

Its purpose is to assist solicitors who represent anyone in the consideration of cases by the CCRC.Existing guidance in The Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors (8th Edition)A: Chapter 21: Litigation and advocacy (p.381)21.18 Statements to the pressA solicitor who on the client's instructions gives a statement to the press, must not become in contempt of court by publishing any statement which is calculated to interfere with the fair trial of a case which has not been concluded.

See also paragraph 6.3 of the Advocacy Code (Annex 21A at p.391)B: Annex 21A: Law Society's Code for advocacy (p.391)6.3 Advocates must not in relation to any current matter in which they are or have been briefed offer their personal views or opinions to or in any news or current affairs media upon the facts of or the issues arising in that matter.The application of the existing guidance to CCRC casesIt is in the nature of cases submitted to the CCRC that they may be more likely than other sets of instructions to command the emotional as well as professional commitment of a solicitor.

Cases may raise large issues of principle in relation to the administration of justice as well as disturbing matters of p ersonal tragedy.

In these cases more than most, perhaps, the client's instructions or the solicitor's own feelings may incline towards making comments to the press.

Whether solicitors are instructed by the CCRC's applicant, by the victims of crime, or by witnesses or investigators, they may find themselves in similar circumstances.A: 21.18 Statements to the pressAt the time that an application is made to the CCRC, the guidance at 21.18 does not, on the face of things, apply because the case has, by definition, been 'concluded'.

The CCRC's review is not a judicial or adversarial process, and it is not possible to be held in contempt of the CCRC.

However, the object of applying to the CCRC is to obtain a referral to a court, at which point the cases would again fall within 21.18.

Remarks made during the review period might be 'calculated to interfere with the fair trial' of the matter if they were likely to affect the evidence of witnesses or the opinions of any jurors who might sit on an eventual re-trial.

By analogy, it is possible that witnesses due to be interviewed by the CCRC could be affected by public statements made by solicitors, or contained in media reporting to which a solicitor has contributed.

Additionally, the significance of a witness's special knowledge of a case could be reduced if that knowledge might have been obtained from media reporting.Solicitors should therefore exercise caution in discussing the facts of a CCRC case publicly, especially in relation to issues that are not already in the public domain.B: Law Society's Code for Advocacy 6.3Similarly, paragraph 6.3 of the Code for Advocacy is not directly applicable to a CCRC review, because the Commission is not a court before which the solicitor is briefed to appear (see the definitions of 'brief' and 'court' in 1.2 of the Code at p385 of the guide).

It is not uncommon for solicitors who deal with alleged miscarriages of justice (whether as duty solicitor at the time of arrest, as trial solicitor, on appeal, or at the time of review) to be invited by the press, perhaps years later, to form and express a personal belief as to the innocence of their client or the credibility of evidence.

For the reasons explained above, a CCRC review may well result in a case once again becoming a 'current matter' long after paragraph 6.3 seemed to have ceased to apply.Solicitors should therefore exercise caution in expressing personal views about cases under review by the CCRC where such an expression would have been a breach of the code if the case had still fallen within paragraph 6.3.