A Long Walk to Justice

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If I’m sitting in a jail cell saying I’m innocent, I’m innocent, I’m innocent, for 17 years – who’s listening? If he’d been kidnapped and held hostage overseas he’d have got intensive psychological treatment. But if you’re kidnapped by your own government – oooh, that’s embarrassing – we don’t want to talk about it.’ Is it the perfect model? Well, I don’t think there is a perfect model. But I think it’s a far better model than the models that presently exist in other countries.’

Fortunately, Paddy Hill and the others wrongly convicted of the Birmingham bombings weren’t hanged. Fortunately, English decisionmakers looked beyond Denning’s brutal simplicity for answers and sought to establish a body that would correct miscarriages of justice rather than bury them. I do feel incredibly angry that Billy Middleton feels that he has the right to publish on the internet whatever he wants without fear of retribution.The impact of COVID-19 on social welfare legal advice organisations led to a group of independent funders working in partnership with representative bodies to form an alliance for social justice by creating the Community Justice Fund (CJF). ATJF, as one of the funders, was tasked with hosting and distributing this vital funding which distributed substantial sums to several Scottish charities adversely affected by the pandemic. For more information about the CJF and other campaigns, including a list of charities who have received funding, see atjf.org.uk/community-justice-fund-grants I’d certainly like to see the (CCRC) model taken up. I’ve yet to see what the barriers are and what’s stopping it. I assume it must be political. But my advice to those that object to it is – dip your toe in the water. You have nothing to fear by the creation of an independent commission. I suspect they will probably only be persuaded of that, not by speaking to us, but by speaking to the senior judiciary and politicians in Scotland. We’ve never felt we were anything but a welcome addition to the justice system.’ I’ve practised in the United States, without a CCRC,’ says lawyer Emily Bolton, ‘and I think you have to be very bloody careful about who you criticise here, because the CCRC is a frigging miracle.’ For such a small amount of expenditure, having a commission that could actually assuage those doubts, would seem to me to be money well spent.’

The worry that patch-protection and political concerns may be taking priority over finding the truth and delivering justice is compounded by statements such as this, found in ministry documents: Ever since the Arthur Allan Thomas case in the 1970s, where police planted evidence to convict an innocent man, it has been clear our justice system doesn’t always get it right. It’s also the position of the Justice Ministry, which has clung to its powers in this area. In 2003 it conducted a review of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy system and recommended an independent board consider miscarriage of justice cases. However, by 2006 it had curiously changed its view, saying its work was of a high standard and it was the appropriate body to consider wrongful convictions. But not only was this a subjective assessment of its own performance, it came despite admitting there was ‘a modest knowledge base about the occurrence of miscarriages of justice in New Zealand and the operation of the Royal prerogative of mercy’.The EAC is mandated to prosecute the person(s) most responsible for international crimes committed in Chad between June 7, 1982 and December 1, 1990. This court is the first ad hoc tribunal to be established under the umbrella of a regional political body rather than the United Nations. It is also unprecedented in that it is the first regional court with criminal jurisdiction.