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Victims and Miscarriages of Justice (Criminal Cases Review Commission…
Victims and Miscarriages of Justice
Miscarriages of Justice
- Tends to refer to those who have been wrongfully convicted
Why?
Professional misconduct e.g. false confessions or planted evidence
Inadequacies of the defence lawyers
Failure of the prosecution giving evidence to the defence which may work in the offenders favour
Reliance on expert testimony which is incorrect
Some trial judges may misdirect the jury
Examples
Stefan Kiszko
- imprisoned for the rape and murder of a schoolgirl in 1975 - he served 16 years in prison until he a Court of Appeal found the medical evidence proved it would be impossible for it to be Stefan
Reforms
1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act
- introduced the tape recordings of police interviews
1995 Criminal Appeals Act
- established an independent body to deal with miscarriages of justice rather than the Home Office
Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)
- receives complaints from individuals or their representatives regarding a wrongful conviction or an inappropriate sentence. They take control when there is new evidence and already been through the appeals process
"A failure to attain the desired end result of justice." - Walker, 2002
"A failure to act or protect - system failure" - Savage et al, 2009
Victiminology
Criminologists have examined...
A 'typical' type of victim e.g. characteristics, lifestyles
Victimless crimes i.e. white collar crime
How social factors e.g. poverty can impact victims of their own social circumstance
How discriminatory factors of the CJS may cause victimisation
Developments of the CJS to help victims
The National Association of Victim Support Scheme
- 1970s - 1990s - organised by the charity Victim Support and offers emotional support and practical help to those that have suffered.
The Victims' Charter
- 1990 -1996 - gave more than 50 standards of how a victim should be treated by the CJS - keeping victims up-to-date with the progress of the case, taking their interests into account
Clarification of what information and support victims have
Establishment of good standards through the CJS
Victims made aware of available support
The Victim Personal Statement Scheme
- 2001 - to give relatives of murder victims a chance to speak about their loss emotionally, psychologically, physically
Can be read aloud in court by victim or someone else
Problems:
majority of cases considered without a VPS, many victims were not offered the chance to make a VPS, some say their VPS did not make any difference to their case
Stephen Lawrence - Miscarriage of Justice
The Police failed to
Treat Lawrence family as victims
Treat the Lawrence family appropriately
Communicate and cooperate properly
Investigate thoroughly
Show leadership at a senior level
Admit failures
Non-Police Failures
Failure of the CPS to communicate decisions to the family
Failures in private prosecution
Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)
Independent body since April 1996
Considers claims of false convictions or inappropriate sentences
Other channels of appeal must be used also
New evidence, new information must be available for an application to be referred
They cannot state innocence/guilt, they must just believe new evidence casts doubt on original decision
Can refer cases back to courts
For cases to be referred to the Court of Appeal, they must have a high possibility of change to the sentence or punishment, a 'real possibility test.' Only a small minority reach the CoA
To refer the CCRC must predict what the CoA may or may not do - however, 70% referrals made are successful
Case of Miscarriage of Justice
The Guildford Four
1974 - first to be arrested for the IRA bombing in Guildford pubs which killed 5 people and injured 100
They were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment
In 1977 appealed against their sentences however failed - despite IRA defendants awaiting trial and had claimed responsibility
In 1987 fresh evidence found that police interview notes had been tampered with, confessions had been made under pressure from the police
After 15 years in prison, convictions were successfully appealed and they were proven innocent in 1989
Main Miscarriages of Justice
Police - misconduct, deception, failure to investigate
Experts - fabrication, misinterpretation, incompetence
Judiciary - unfair decisions at trial, unfair summaries
Lawyers - deception, hiding evidence, incompetent defence
Defendant - false confessions, poor memory
Victim - spitefulness, malice
Witness - mistake, malice
Evidence - poor handling, failure/loss of evidence, issues of technical knowledge e.g. lack of DNA sampling
Who is a Victim?
"individually or collectively, have suffered harm [...] through acts or omissions that are a violation of criminal laws."
"the term 'victim' also includes, where appropriate, the immediate family or dependents of the direct victim."
United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, 1985
Emergence of 'The Victim'
Often forgotten about party of the crime until the 60s/70s
Increasing realisation of victims due to vulnerable groups: women suffering domestic abuse. child abuse etc
Scholars started to pay attention to victims when they found out they could use victims to
measure crime
and to understand the
impact of crime
Goodey (2005) In the last 30 years victims' movements have emerged.
Rising crime rates, feminism, emergence of the 'right' in government = punitive measure of punishment
"Avoid reinforcing illusions that victims benefit from tougher sentencing." (Holtom & Raynor, 1988)
Victims and the CJS
Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (updated 2015)
Published by Ministry of Justice
Applies to all agencies of the CJS
Clearly states entitlements of the victims
Information on what to expect from the case/investigation
Referral to support services
Enhanced service for serious crimes
Possibility to ask CPS to review their decision not to prosecute
Opportunity to make Victim Personal Statement
Should Victims be involved with sentencing?
+Victims may feel empowered and acknowledged
+CJS needs the cooperation of the victims
+Victims input might lead to a more democratic sentencing
+May increase victim satisfaction with the CJS
-But do victims really want to be so involved? E.g. may be scared of the criminal
-What if the victims expectations are not met?
-There should be key principles involved with sentencing such as consistency and objectivity
No
Yes
What happens in practice?
Insensitive questioning and unsympathetic police officers
Delays in passing case to the CPS
Lack of information for the victim
No adequate explanations of the cases developments
Secondary Victimisation
- being blamed for being the victim e.g. a rape victim (primary victimisation) being blamed for the crime or exclusions from society (secondary)
Should there be a rebalancing of the system?
+Scholarly opinion states changes made have only been surface changes
+Information to the victim is still incomplete and often late
+Limited opportunities to speak of victimisation
+Only certain types of victims are acknowledged in policy-making
+Victims involvement in decision making is still prohibited
-Victim rights' and defendant rights' are not equally balanced
-Basic rights of the defendant should not be undermined by improvements of victim conditions
-Misleading to imply victims want higher conviction rates for defendants. Political campaigners who strike defendant rights' against victim rights are potentially dangerous
Yes
No
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice "has possibly been the most influential development of 'crime control' in the past decade." (Crawford & Newburn, 2003)
Emphasises the importance of repairing and restoring the offender and the victim, or more broadly the community
In the early Middle Ages restorative justice was the normal way to deal with crime. However as time went out Britain took a more punitive stance on crime.
Christie, 1977 argues conflicts between communities are important to re-establish standardised norms and values, in the echo of Durkheim.
Advantages
Acknowledges the victim and does not just see crime as a breach of the law
Allows both parties to speak and explain their sides of the story
A step for reintegrating the offender back into society
Disadvantages
Retributive argue this is too soft of an approach - the offender can say sorry whether they meant it or not and they may escape a longer sentence
Victims may not wish to face the person that has wronged them
Offender may refuse to cooperate and resent the process
If the offender feels as though they haven't done anything wrong, the process will not produce positive outcomes