§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the time taken to investigate each alleged miscarriage of justice considered by his Department in the last three years; and which of these were referred to the Court of Appeal; [7783]
(2) how many cases were referred to the Court of Appeal following investigation by his Department in each of the last 10 years. [7782]
§ Mr. KirkhopeThe number of cases referred in recent years to the Court of Appeal is given in the table:
References to the Court of Appeal under section 17(1)(a) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 in respect of conviction 1988–94 Year Cases Defendants 1988 3 6 1989 7 20 1990 10 12 1991 8 11 1992 8 9 1993 8 9 1994 9 12 1995 18 20 Detailed information about the time taken to consider individual cases is not available. During the past three years, it has taken, on average, about two months to consider a case, but the time taken varies considerably according to the extent and nature of inquiries which may need to be made. At the beginning of December 1995, there were 50 cases which had been under consideration for more than 12 months.