I very much agree, David, and also as to her needing to resign from the chairmanship of the Judicial Appointments Board since it seems to me very much to follow. Furthermore, as Lord Garnier KC has said there needs to be a properly funded return by the MOJ, aka, Justice Secretary, aka government to the employment of full time commissioners with appropriate tenure rather than the day at a time fee earners currently in place ( some of whom may be excellent but then that scarcely begins to be the point). Furthermore, there must be no more of the “been there, done that approach to the Commission as though- absurdly- its mere creation and its fairly well funded beginnings had led to the vanishing of all outstanding miscarriages and to the impossibility of present and future failures. It is time we all grew up over that.
We need a new Royal Commission into Criminal Justice to consider reform of all parts of the criminal justice system, including the functioning and funding of the CCRC This sweeping review has been proposed without success many times in recent years. The first Royal Commission, in the early 1990s, was convened due to disturbingly similar miscarriages of justice as Malkinson's, and resulted in the establishment of the CCRC, which now joins the list of disgraced criminal justice institutions.
Agreed about the need for a new Royal Commission into Criminal Justice. Such a commission was one of the commitments in the Conservative party general election manifesto in December 2019 (see below), but nothing came of it. The other priority is proper funding for all aspects of both the criminal and civil justice systems.
Tory manifesto 2019, page 19:
"We will conduct a root-and-branch review of the parole system to improve accountability and public safety, giving victims the right to attend hearings for the first time, and we will establish a Royal Commission on the criminal justice process."
Well,yes: perhaps, David Lamming. But what of the part played overall by the Court of Appeal, where it had become a bold commissioner indeed who would have been enthusiastic about receiving the opprobrium and - indeed- dressing down by some constituent members of that for so much as having had the temerity to refer cases troubling so many of us and here I know that my view is very much shared by my friend and doyen of appeals and miscarriage cases Glynn Maddocks,KC . I might mention also the equally torrid time experienced by , for example, the “Rough Justice” series. I grant you that in his review Chris Henly KC has touched upon this but let us not to fail to look for this further in the further reviews to come. I of course have in mind the (apparent) serious shortcomings or, leaving aside that euphemism, misconduct of the police service. I say nothing about the CPS since I know insufficient about the case. I add only this: when in one representative office or another for the Law Society I encouraged the governments of the day to have regard to and to fund properly this last resort body. The attitude seemed very much to be (no party political point here) that they “been there, done that,” as though with the mere setting up of the Commission all remaining AND FUTURE miscarriages had been swept away. Wrong on all counts.
I'd agree that Pitcher's resignation (or sacking, which seems more likely) would not alone resolve the issues with the CCRC, but surely her replacement with someone of proven independence and competence is a priority. As Charles Falconer said when interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 'TODAY' programme this morning (Friday 19 July), Pitcher should also be removed from her post as chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission.
I very much agree, David, and also as to her needing to resign from the chairmanship of the Judicial Appointments Board since it seems to me very much to follow. Furthermore, as Lord Garnier KC has said there needs to be a properly funded return by the MOJ, aka, Justice Secretary, aka government to the employment of full time commissioners with appropriate tenure rather than the day at a time fee earners currently in place ( some of whom may be excellent but then that scarcely begins to be the point). Furthermore, there must be no more of the “been there, done that approach to the Commission as though- absurdly- its mere creation and its fairly well funded beginnings had led to the vanishing of all outstanding miscarriages and to the impossibility of present and future failures. It is time we all grew up over that.
We need a new Royal Commission into Criminal Justice to consider reform of all parts of the criminal justice system, including the functioning and funding of the CCRC This sweeping review has been proposed without success many times in recent years. The first Royal Commission, in the early 1990s, was convened due to disturbingly similar miscarriages of justice as Malkinson's, and resulted in the establishment of the CCRC, which now joins the list of disgraced criminal justice institutions.
Agreed about the need for a new Royal Commission into Criminal Justice. Such a commission was one of the commitments in the Conservative party general election manifesto in December 2019 (see below), but nothing came of it. The other priority is proper funding for all aspects of both the criminal and civil justice systems.
Tory manifesto 2019, page 19:
"We will conduct a root-and-branch review of the parole system to improve accountability and public safety, giving victims the right to attend hearings for the first time, and we will establish a Royal Commission on the criminal justice process."
Well,yes: perhaps, David Lamming. But what of the part played overall by the Court of Appeal, where it had become a bold commissioner indeed who would have been enthusiastic about receiving the opprobrium and - indeed- dressing down by some constituent members of that for so much as having had the temerity to refer cases troubling so many of us and here I know that my view is very much shared by my friend and doyen of appeals and miscarriage cases Glynn Maddocks,KC . I might mention also the equally torrid time experienced by , for example, the “Rough Justice” series. I grant you that in his review Chris Henly KC has touched upon this but let us not to fail to look for this further in the further reviews to come. I of course have in mind the (apparent) serious shortcomings or, leaving aside that euphemism, misconduct of the police service. I say nothing about the CPS since I know insufficient about the case. I add only this: when in one representative office or another for the Law Society I encouraged the governments of the day to have regard to and to fund properly this last resort body. The attitude seemed very much to be (no party political point here) that they “been there, done that,” as though with the mere setting up of the Commission all remaining AND FUTURE miscarriages had been swept away. Wrong on all counts.
I'd agree that Pitcher's resignation (or sacking, which seems more likely) would not alone resolve the issues with the CCRC, but surely her replacement with someone of proven independence and competence is a priority. As Charles Falconer said when interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 'TODAY' programme this morning (Friday 19 July), Pitcher should also be removed from her post as chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission.
The CCRC chair, Helen Pitcher, should be offering her resignation, not just her "sincere regret and an unreserved apology."