Criminal Cases Review Commission

Damian Green Excerpts

Thursday 6th June 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Damian Green)]

On Friday 19 October 2012 I made a written statement to Parliament announcing the triennial review of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. I am pleased to announce the conclusion of the review and publication of the report today.

Established by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 as an executive non-departmental body in 1997, the Criminal Cases Review Commission undertakes reviews of possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with a view to referring appropriate cases to the courts.

The review has concluded that there is a continuing role for the Criminal Cases Review Commission and that it should continue as an executive non-departmental public body. The Commission has been assessed as having a green rating overall for the standards of corporate governance and the recommendation of the report relates to two areas where it has been identified that improvements can be made in order to more closely follow good practice for public bodies.

The triennial review has been carried out with the participation of a wide range of stakeholders and users, in addition to the commission itself the review was publicised on my Department’s website and stakeholders were invited to contribute through a call for evidence and through meetings. In addition to the project board which oversaw the review, a critical friends group challenged the evidence used to make conclusions. A peer reviewer also challenged the evidence for stage two of the review.

I am grateful to all who contributed to this triennial review. The final report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.