Reasons to doubt : wrongful convictions and the criminal cases review commission / Carolyne Hoyle and Mai Sato.

First edition.

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2019.

xix, 383 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Oxford monographs on criminal law and criminal justice.

This book reveals what happens to applications for post-conviction review when those in England and Wales who consider themselves to have been wrongfully convicted, and have exhausted direct appeal processes, apply to have their case assessed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. It presents the findings of the first thorough empirical study of decision-making and the use of discretion within the Commission. It shows how the Commission exercises its discretionary powers in identifying and investigating possible wrongful convictions for rehearing by the Court of Appeal. The research it draws on - a three year empirical study - comprises a mixed-method approach of quantitative and qualitative analysis of case files and aggregate data, as well as interviews with decision makers and observations of committee meetings to fully grasp the workings of the organization from a socio-legal perspective and to understand how discretion operates at the individual and institutional level. The study starts from the premise that the legal framework within which the Commission works - the probability of a case being likely to succeed at the Court - is neither rigid nor uncomplicated. While it is a legal test, and is therefore applied according to statute and case law, it could also be seen as a fluid concept that must be determined on a case-by-case basis, drawing in various cultural and structural variables as well as the more obvious features of the case and prior decisions of the Court.

This book reveals what happens to applications for post-conviction review when those in England and Wales who consider themselves to have been wrongfully convicted, and have exhausted direct appeal processes, apply to have their case assessed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. It presents the findings of the first thorough empirical study of decision-making and the use of discretion within the Commission. It shows how the Commission exercises its discretionary powers in identifying and investigating possible wrongful convictions for rehearing by the Court of Appeal. The research it draws on - a three year empirical study - comprises a mixed-method approach of quantitative and qualitative analysis of case files and aggregate data, as well as interviews with decision makers and observations of committee meetings to fully grasp the workings of the organization from a socio-legal perspective and to understand how discretion operates at the individual and institutional level. The study starts from the premise that the legal framework within which the Commission works - the probability of a case being likely to succeed at the Court - is neither rigid nor uncomplicated. While it is a legal test, and is therefore applied according to statute and case law, it could also be seen as a fluid concept that must be determined on a case-by-case basis, drawing in various cultural and structural variables as well as the more obvious features of the case and prior decisions of the Court.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-366) and index.

KD8464 .H695 2019

English

0198794576
9780198794578