§ Baroness Seccombeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their policy on reviewing the convictions of prisoners who change their pleas from guilty to not-guilty after their conviction. [HL828]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Rooker)In conferring the right of appeal, the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 does not distinguish between persons convicted following a guilty plea and those convicted by a jury. However, the Court of Appeal is rarely prepared to grant leave to appeal if the applicant pleaded guilty in the Crown Court.
The Home Secretary's powers to consider alleged miscarriages of justice came to an end on 31 March 1997. These were replaced by new powers vested in an independent body, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has a main responsibility under 151WA the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 to review suspected miscarriages of justice and to refer a conviction, verdict, finding or sentence to the appropriate court of appeal when the commission considers that there is real possibility that it would not be upheld. In making its decisions, the commission applies the same tests as the Court of Appeal.