MPs name on Criminal Cases Review Commission leader govt to surrender

The miscarriage of justice watchdog for England, Wales and Northern Ireland has frequently failed to be informed from its errors and its leader govt must practice the organisation’s chair out the door, MPs have mentioned.

In a damning file at the management of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the House of Commons justice committee mentioned Karen Kneller had equipped it with unpersuasive proof and her place used to be not tenable.

It mentioned that the executive govt must practice within the footsteps of Helen Pitcher, who surrender in January after an unbiased panel concluded she used to be not have compatibility to be chair after the CCRC’s failings over Andrew Malkinson.

The justice committee’s file, revealed on Friday, mentioned the CCRC’s extend in publishing Chris Henley KC’s evaluation into the dealing with of the Malkinson miscarriage of justice case and makes an attempt to minimise the wear to its recognition represented a “spectacular failure of leadership”.

It accused Kneller of giving “problematic” proof to the committee as to the explanations for the extend and failing to recognize makes an attempt via the CCRC to water down Henley’s findings.

The committee chair, Labour’s Andy Slaughter, mentioned: “The committee cannot perform our scrutiny function if witnesses provide incomplete or partial responses to our questions. The information provided since the session establishes that Karen Kneller omitted important information that would have provided a more accurate account of how the CCRC handled the Henley report.

“As a result of our concerns regarding the performance of the CCRC and the unpersuasive evidence Karen Kneller provided to the committee, we no longer feel that it is tenable for her to continue as chief executive of the CCRC.”

The committee additionally deemed justifications given via Kneller for her attendance at dear coaching classes in France the usage of public cash to be unsatisfactory.

The CCRC had “deteriorated significantly” and required root and department reform, the file discovered. Criticisms incorporated the present loss of a chair, for which it mentioned the Ministry of Justice bore some accountability; the CCRC’s fight to safe a enough selection of commissioners; and the transfer to completely far flung running, which “is out of step with the rest of the public sector and seems unsuited to the nature of their work”.

The committee mentioned that whilst Henley’s evaluation serious about one case, it had “significant implications for the CCRC’s overall approach to its casework. The mistakes made in relation to Andrew Malkinson’s application should have been taken as evidence of systemic problems within the CCRC.”

Slaughter mentioned: “For an organisation that is designed to identify failures within the criminal justice system, the CCRC’s leadership has shown a remarkable inability to learn from its own mistakes.”

The file comes 10 days after Peter Sullivan had his wrongful homicide conviction quashed after 38 years in jail.

The Labour peer and previous justice secretary Charlie Falconer mentioned that whilst it used to be true that once Sullivan first carried out to the CCRC in 2008 forensic trying out tactics weren’t sufficiently complicated to exonerate him, it must have proactively reviewed his case and greater than 1,500 others when a extra correct check changed into to be had in 2013. Falconer mentioned the CCRC used to be “generally regarded as useless”.

A CCRC spokesperson mentioned it famous the committee’s suggestions, including: “We look forward to an announcement on the appointment of an interim chair and to working with them in an organisation deeply committed to finding, investigating and referring potential miscarriages of justice.”