Miscarriages: current system is working, says Society


The Law Society joined forces with Amnesty International, Liberty and a host of lawyers' organisations last month to warn that the government's proposals for changing the rules on quashing criminal convictions are 'misconceived' and pose a 'profound threat' to the rule of law.



In an open letter to The Times, the organisations warned that the proposals meant the Court of Appeal would be able to uphold a criminal conviction even where there had been 'grave procedural impropriety during the investigation or at trial'.



A Home Office consultation puts forward options to amend the current statutory test which the Court of Appeal must apply before quashing a conviction. It suggests that the way the test has been interpreted by the judiciary allows defendants to go free even where the court is satisfied they committed the offence.



Options for change include inserting a proviso that an appeal should not be allowed if the court considers that no miscarriage of justice actually occurred, or recasting the Court of Appeal's role to require it to conduct a substantial re-examination of the evidence.



In its response to the consultation, the Law Society said there was 'no evidence' that the current system was unduly favourable to defendants or was 'giving rise to public disquiet'. It said changes could undermine public confidence, leading to 'a perception that convictions were unsafe, unreliable and unfair'.



It also warned that removing basic safeguards as proposed would 'create an environment in which abuse of power and corrupt practices were effective in obtaining convictions'.



The letter was also endorsed by the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association and Criminal Bar Association amongst others.



Rachel Rothwell