§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which unit in his Department dealt with reviewing alleged miscarriages of justice before the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission; how many applications the unit received in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many cases were referred to the appropriate court of appeal; and how many sentences were(a) reduced and (b) quashed as a result of referral in each of the last 10 years for which the unit operated. [143482]
§ Paul GogginsC3 was the unit responsible for reviewing alleged miscarriages of justice before the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997.
Figures for the number of applications to C3 are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, it is recorded that
the figure for 1992 was 790 of which 634 involved a custodial sentence".Figures relating to referrals of convictions are only readily available from 1989 onwards and referrals of sentences from 1990. The convictions referred to the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal by the Home Secretary from 1990 to the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission and their outcomes are as follows:
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Convictions referred Convictions upheld Convictions quashed 1989 6 0 6 1990 20 0 20 1991 12 0 12 1992 13 4 9 1993 10 4 6 1994 12 7 5
Convictions referred Convictions upheld Convictions quashed 1995 17 1 110 1996 12 2 10 19972 3 1 2 1 Includes one case where only two of several counts were overturned. 2 January to March only. In addition the Home Secretary referred sentences back to the Court of Appeal as follows:
Sentences referred 1990 3 1991 8 1992 1 1993 0 1994 3 1995 2 1996 7 19971 0 1 January to March only. However, the information available on their outcomes is uncertain and could be verified only at disproportionate cost.