Miscarriage of justice body
01 March 1995
The new "independent commission" to investigate miscarriages of justice is fatally flawed from the moment of conception, say campaigners against past miscarriages of justice. The proposed body has no in-house investigators but must rely on the police to carry out investigations which, in many if not most cases, involve allegations of police malpractice. This reproduces the faults which have made the Police Complaints Authority so ineffective and ensures, in the words of Chris Mullin, "risks discrediting the whole exercise".
The eleven people on the Commission will need ministerial approval. They will replace the Home Office C3 division, which last year received about 730 complaints of miscarriage of justice, and referred 12 to the Court of Appeal.
Independent, Guardian, 24.2.95.