§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases were referred to the criminal department of the Home Office in 1976 to consider whether he should grant a pardon or refer a case back to the Court of Appeal; and how many staff serve in that department.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI regret that the information requested in the first part of the Question could not be provided without disproportionate effort. Representations are received from, or on behalf of, prisoners and others about a wide variety of subjects related to convictions, and many of them do not ask for a specific remedy. Thirty staff are engaged wholly or partly in dealing with representations about alleged wrongful convictions, only a small proportion of which lead eventually to the grant of a free pardon or reference of the case to the Court of Appeal.