In response to a Judge calling for an inquiry after a rape trial collapsed because police failed to reveal evidence that proved the innocence of the accused, Kent Law Clinic solicitor Hannah Uglow asks why the same problems are still happening in the Criminal Justice system.
‘In 2017 there was a damning report compiled by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. It found that it was rare for police officers to tell prosecutors about “unused” evidence that could undermine their case or assist the accused’s.
‘The recording of items of evidence was labelled “routinely poor”. Prosecutors were said to have failed to challenge poor recording of material and failed to carry out their duty to consider what to hand over to the defence. Just as we have seen today in the case of Liam Allan this leads to charges being brought wrongly, delays in cases proceeding and to trials collapsing.
‘The past 20 years have seen repeated calls for “speedy justice”. This is an affront to all involved, to victims and suspects equally. The realities of the processes in the Criminal Justice System would horrify those not familiar with it and today’s case is a just an inkling of the extent of the problem.
‘In general terms both police and prosecution can be high-handed and not pay proper regard to their duties. Pressures on public funding have left defence lawyers unable to pursue these issues as they have had to increase their workload at least five fold to stay afloat in the wake of cuts. The police and the Crown are aware of this and the advantage is played upon (perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not).
‘Failures in the proper review and disclosure of evidence can lead not only to miscarriages of justice and unnecessary remands to prison before trial, but also knock on effects bringing additional costs and delays at the trial stage. This can be devastating for those suspected and their families. It can cause months of uncertainty and anxiety, perhaps more so where someone has been remanded in custody and may, in reality be unlawfully detained. Quite rightly these cases can lead to civil actions with obvious costly consequences if won or settled out of Court.
‘It is a classic case of saving a penny at the cost of a pound. Cuts to the Criminal Justice System were easy and did not attract adverse popular reaction. It would come as no surprise to find that the impact of cuts to criminal defence funding come to light through a spate of miscarriage of justice cases in 5 to 10 years. Much like the 90’s which saw the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four and as time went on the devastating cases of flawed scientific evidence including that of Sally Clark and Angela Canning.
‘To reassure us there was the creation of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. But it is also inadequately funded and lacks the resources to investigate fully. We should be looking to have a system based on preventing miscarriages not correcting them.
‘In 2016 it was the 25th anniversary of the release of the Birmingham Six. The news we are hearing today about how an innocent man narrowly escaped conviction is indicative of further decay in our Criminal Justice system. Not only the trial process but also the aftermath because it is also 27 years since the Strangeways Prison Riots and yet we continue to see spates of violent unrest and disturbances across the prison estate. These headlines should be ringing the loudest alarm bells. How can 25 years and more go by and still identical problems persist? It should have been the case that today we looked back and reflected on the progress we have made. Instead the same problems (and worse) haunt the Criminal Justice System at arrest, at trial, in prison.’
Hannah Uglow, is a solicitor in the Kent Law Clinic, part of Kent Law School.