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Michael Mansfield QChome September 2004
The Risk of Miscarriages of Justice occuring has not diminished. Each time a miscarriage of justice occurs, the government of the day announces reform and promises "no repetition". Over the years we have seen the introduction of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) regulating the investigation of crime and the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission) examining flawed convictions and the Auld Review of the Criminal Justice System as a whole. What this timely book shows with telling clarity is that the risk of miscarriage has not diminished and that the human cost involved is incalculable. The examples used and the stories told, are often those overlooked or marginalised by the policy makers and pundits, who categorise such material as anecdotal. At the end of the day, issues of serious non-disclosure or flawed forensic science need to be measured in human terms. All of this requires urgent consideration in the light of the present Home Secretary's draconian proposals for restricting jury trial, lowering the standards of proof, admitting hearsay, allowing intelligence information as evidence, in camera hearings with specially appointed Counsel etc. This work should be essential and obligatory reading for all politicians and practitioners. |
© L.A.Naylor 2005. All rights reserved.
