Origin of
the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)
1. The Criminal Cases Review Commission was established
in response to calls for a new mechanism for redressing possible
miscarriages of justice. Before it was established, the procedure
for considering whether a particular conviction ought to be referred
back to the Court of Appeal was that an application was made to
the Home Office where it would be considered by officials and
then put to the Home Secretary. This procedure was increasingly
thought to be unacceptably slow, insufficiently independent, and
to deliver too many wrong decisions.[1]
As far back as 1976 Lord Devlin, in a Report[2]
on Evidence of Identification in Criminal Cases, had raised the
idea that there should be a new body, independent of the Home
Secretary, which would take such decisions. In 1982, the then
Home Affairs Committee made recommendations along similar lines;[3]
these recommendations were not accepted by the then Government.[4]
2. During the1980s cases where persons might have
been wrongly convicted continued to come to prominence. In March
1991, on the day that the Court of Appeal quashed convictions
for murder in one high profile case (the case of the 'Birmingham
Six'), the establishment of a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice,
chaired by Lord Runciman, was announced. The Royal Commission
was given wide-ranging terms of reference to examine the various
stages of the criminal justice process, including "the arrangements
for considering and investigating allegations of miscarriage of
justice when appeal rights have been exhausted".
3. The Royal Commission reported in July 1993. Among
many other proposed criminal justice reforms, it recommended the
abolition of the Home Secretary's power to refer cases back to
the Court of Appeal and the establishment of a new body, independent
of government, which would be charged with receiving applications
and considering whether they should be referred back to the Court
of Appeal.[5] This recommendation
was accepted by the then Government, and the new body was established
under Part II of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995,[6]
as the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Although the remit of
the Royal Commission was limited to England and Wales, the Criminal
cases Review Commission's remit covered Northern Ireland also;
similar legislation establishing a separate body for Scotland
followed in due course.[7]
4. A Chairman (Sir Frederick Crawford) was appointed
in April 1996. Other members of the Commission, a Chief Executive,
and other staff were appointed (and premises in central Birmingham
acquired and fitted out) over the subsequent months, allowing
the Commission to be formally established on 1 January 1997.
5. Cases outstanding in the Home Office and Northern
Ireland Office at the end of March 1997 were transferred to the
Commission, and applications after then were received directly
by the Commission. Not all applications received are in fact eligible
for review by the Commission. For those identified as eligible,
the final decision required to be taken by the Commission is whether
or not the case (which might involve a conviction or a sentence)
should be referred back to the Court of Appeal. The Court can
then either quash or uphold the conviction or sentence. The key
statistics describing the activity of the Commission to the end
of February 1999 are as follows:
