A.C 3.2: Draw conclusions from
information
Safe verdicts
To achieve this, 2 things are needed:
● Evidence must be admissible, reliable and credible, as well as sufficient to justify the verdict
● Court procedures must have been followed correctly during the trial
Unsafe verdicts & miscarriages of justice
● A miscarriage of justice is where someone who’s been found guilty, is found innocent of a
crime. These decisions are often based on new evidence being brought to light
● If Court of Appeal decided that a conviction is a miscarriage of justice, then there will not
normally be a need for a retrial
● Unsafe verdicts are sometimes called wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice are one
type of a wrongful conviction, however sometimes they happen if it’s simply not clear
whether the accused was innocent or guilty
E.g. Failure to call relevant witnesses or present relevant evidence
The Birmingham Six
● Have been a number of high-profile miscarriages of justice in the last 50 years
● Is the best known one
Just verdicts
● Is one that is deserved, lawful and proper
Double jeopardy:
● Until the rule was changed in 2003, someone who’d been found innocent couldn’t be
prosecuted again for that offence
● In certain cases, it became clear that a ‘not guilty’ verdict is the original trial was unjust
Case of Stephen Lawrence:
● Racist murder, caused many campaigners to want the double jeopardy law to change
● Police investigation had been incompetent and racist, and didn’t result in any prosecutions of
any of the 5 suspects
● In 2003, Criminal Justice Act amended the law so that a second prosecution could be allowed
for very serious crimes
● Therefore in 2012, 2 of the suspects were finally convicted of the murder
Jury equity or jury nullification:
information
Safe verdicts
To achieve this, 2 things are needed:
● Evidence must be admissible, reliable and credible, as well as sufficient to justify the verdict
● Court procedures must have been followed correctly during the trial
Unsafe verdicts & miscarriages of justice
● A miscarriage of justice is where someone who’s been found guilty, is found innocent of a
crime. These decisions are often based on new evidence being brought to light
● If Court of Appeal decided that a conviction is a miscarriage of justice, then there will not
normally be a need for a retrial
● Unsafe verdicts are sometimes called wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice are one
type of a wrongful conviction, however sometimes they happen if it’s simply not clear
whether the accused was innocent or guilty
E.g. Failure to call relevant witnesses or present relevant evidence
The Birmingham Six
● Have been a number of high-profile miscarriages of justice in the last 50 years
● Is the best known one
Just verdicts
● Is one that is deserved, lawful and proper
Double jeopardy:
● Until the rule was changed in 2003, someone who’d been found innocent couldn’t be
prosecuted again for that offence
● In certain cases, it became clear that a ‘not guilty’ verdict is the original trial was unjust
Case of Stephen Lawrence:
● Racist murder, caused many campaigners to want the double jeopardy law to change
● Police investigation had been incompetent and racist, and didn’t result in any prosecutions of
any of the 5 suspects
● In 2003, Criminal Justice Act amended the law so that a second prosecution could be allowed
for very serious crimes
● Therefore in 2012, 2 of the suspects were finally convicted of the murder
Jury equity or jury nullification:
