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Appeal Grounds

When you seek to over turn a wrongful conviction the challenge is often finding the right ground or grounds to persuade the Court of Appeal that the conviction is unsafe . Your feeling of injustice , the errors you think were made , the failure to call the right witness , the fresh evidence you have or the Judges bias .......these may be the matters that keep you awake at night but either individually or cumulatively they may not be enough . It may be however that lurking below the surface is a serious failing or ground that you have not even thought about . This requires a very careful and methodical approach . What we set out are some of those key areas and legal grounds that could arise but it is important to realise that each case is different and no past decision of the Court can be a guide as to what it is likely to do if you get to argue your case before them .

Its a good place to start however ...............

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Caselaw Spotlight - Hearsay Deceased Complainants

What if the Complainant who is making allegations against you has died by the time of your trial ? Surely you cannot have a fair trial ?

The Answer says the Court is that in most cases you can . In Horncastle v United Kingdom [2014] 12 WLUK 569 the Court held there was no infringement of a right to a fair trial where Complainants were absent . See also Riat [2012] EWCA Crim 1509

A key consideation for the Court had been whether the evidence to be admitted would be decisive or whether other evidence was available .The Court would have regard to the circumstances of the evidence and its reliability and it would not always be safe to assume such evidence would be admitted

For example in R v Ibrahim [2012] EWCA Crim 837  - A conviction for rape was unsafe as the untested hearsay evidence of the complainant, who had died before the trial, should not have been admitted under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.116. In the light of the reliability of the evidence and its importance to the Crown's case, its admission had had such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings as to infringe the defendant's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.6(1). 

Where it is admitted it is important to ensure that the judge gives very careful directions and this should include in suitable cases identifying the quesitons the complainant would have been asked if they had been there .

Nowadays we know that the risk of a miscarriage of justice, a concept requiring no explanation is ever present. In earlier times courts sometimes approached the risk of a miscarriage of justice in ways which we would not nowadays find acceptable

Judgments - Regina v. Connor and another (Appellants) (On Appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)) Regina v. Mirza (Appellant) (On Appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)) (Conjoined Appeals) 2002 House of Lords

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Contributors

  • 1 MarkNewbyQSJ
    • R v Porch [2020 ] EWCA Crim 1633 – Failure to adduce phone evidence renders conviction unsafe – the crown do not need to be at fault
    • RT & MAM v R [2020] EWCA Crim 1343 – Hearsay Deceased Complainant , unknown victim and “lies ” not enough to defeat principles in Riat
    • R v Crampton [2020] EWCA Crim 1334 – Facebook Identification was properly admitted despite breach of the Code – Not a Lurking Doubt Case
    • R. v Wangige (Joseph Karumba) [2020] EWCA Crim 1319 – autrefois convict preventing a second conviction on the same facts
    • R v Westbrook;R v Richardson [2020] EWCA Crim 1243 – Procedural Errors do not render a Judges Decision pronounced in open court invalid
    • R v Tierney-Campbell [2020] EWCA Crim 1194 – Setting Aside A Guilty Plea
    • Miscarriage Compensation – The Battle in Strasbourg for Uk Justice
  • 1 sjsharp1309
    • The Criminal Purgatory – Release Under Investigation – is the end in sight?

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