The CCRC is the independent body set up to investigate potential miscarriages of justice. They have an annual budget of £6.5m which is a stark contract from the CPS who receive annual budget of £700 million. The CCRC is formed by statute and is funded by the Ministry of Justice. It does not act for the defence it is independent of government, the courts, CPS and the defence.
The CCRC was established after high profile miscarriages of justice such as the bombing cases in 1970 shook the publics confidence in the criminal justice system e.g. Birmingham 6 and Guildford 4. The 70s and 80s marked a turbulent time in England due to terrorism attacks. The IRA were planting bombs in England and he public feared for their safety when bombs were going off in public houses. At the time there was huge pressure on the police to find out who was behind the bombings. Papers were screaming for the police to do something and there was a strong anti-irish feeling amongst people.
Gerry Conlon, was one of the Guildford 4 who was tortured and targeted by police into confessing to a crime he did not commit, all four of the accused were completely innocent. This case received a great deal of national support, the press continued to dig, questions were asked, programs such as 'world in action' and 'rough justice' investigated the case, campaigns were launched and human rights barrister's such as Mansfield and Pierce were defending them.
The Birmingham 6 were released after serving 16 years in prison. On their release Paddy Hill stood outside and pointing to the courts he says: "Justice, these people cant sell the word, they're rotten". This was a harrowing moment, it was a moment where the criminal justice system was broken, the entire nation were told a complete lie.
A Royal commission was set up on the day they were released in 1991 in order to investigate what went wrong and to fix the sheer doubt everyone now had in the system. Two years on, they concluded that the legal system could not handle Miscarriages of Justice therefore a separate body, which is now the CCRC was set up. Lord Runciman was the Royal Commissioner for the CCRC. The body was set up in March 1997 by The Criminal Appeal Act 1995.
Before 1997, anyone who had exhausted the appeal process could write to the Home Secretary, this was a very effective process. Only 10 cases would ever go to the Court of Appeal, but with the new body on average 35 cases are sent for appeals. There are also Innocent projects which have been set up by the Innocence Network UK (INUK), but still to date no prisoner has ever walked free from an Innocence Project.
The CCRC is a prisoners final resort, but 96% of the cases sent are rejected, this is because prisoners either have no new evidence, or they are applying because they think they have nothing to lose and in denial of their guilt. In order to be eligible to apply to the CCRC you have to be convicted in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. You can only refer your case if you have fresh evidence and a new argument. The two main statutory powers of the CCRC are:
1. They have full access to all the documents and materials from any public body.
2. They can appoint an outside officer to investigate the case.
1000 people apply to the CCRC a year, but this year it has doubled. Prisoners who are not very educated and unable to read and write may have struggled to fill the form out, but a new form has been released with pictures to illustrate the questions.
PACE Law - outlines the regulations and laws for police to abide by, police misconduct before PACE law were likely to of been more common.
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