Quashing convictions
This consultation paper closed in December 2006. It addressed the government's view that the Court of Appeal should not be able to overturn 'safe' convictions on the grounds of deficiencies in the trial or pre-trial process.
Under the current law, it's possible for a convicted person to have their conviction quashed even where the Court of Appeal have formed the view that they are guilty of the offence.
The conviction is overturned in such cases because the Court are dissatisfied with some aspect of the trial or pre-trial process.
The government wants to ensure that, where the Court of Appeal are of the view that a conviction is, in the normal sense of the word, 'safe', they should not be able to quash it.
The government acknowedges that the Court of Appeal are not in the same position as the jury and may not always be able to form a view on whether the appellant committed the offence. However, where they have formed a view that the conviction is safe, the government believes that they should not be empowered to allow the appeal.
The purpose of this consultation paper is to consider how best to achieve that outcome. The background and legal considerations surrounding these issues are discussed in detail in the main paper.
The original consultation and the responses are both attached below.
Date: Mon Oct 08 17:40:10 BST 2007
- Consultation on quashing convictions (PDF file - 111kb)
- Responses to the consultation on quashing convictions (PDF file - 108kb)
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