Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the March 2021 report of the all-party Parliamentary group on miscarriages of justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the substantial injustice test on the ability of the Court of Appeal to correct miscarriages of justice in change of law cases including joint enterprise.

MoJ is considering the findings of the Westminster Commission but there are currently no plans to review the substantial injustice test. Amending the test would require primary legislation and has wider implications than the work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). It would also not be appropriate to comment on how the Court of Appeal applies the test.