This can be seen in the brief when there were issues with......
Miscarriage of justice
A miscarriage of justice is when a convicted individual has been proven innocent after
having an appeal. It is usually based on new evidence or new techniques becoming
available. Miscarriages of justice have occured commonly throughout the years. For
example, The Guildford four spent 14 years in prison before their convictions for two IRA
bomb explosions in Guildford were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1989. This means that
the miscarriage of justice helps to prove people are innocent. This is good as it ensures that
those who are wrongly convicted, are allowed to appeal and prove their innocence. Another
example is that of the Birmingham six. ……….. (link to brief)
Just sentencing
Just sentencing occurs once a person has been found guilty of a crime, and has been
sentenced. The sentences have to be appropriate to the crime and other outstanding
factors. These are guided by the law and sentencing guidelines.An example of a case that
used unduly harsh sentences was the Mods and Rockers in the 1960s, Moral panics can
lead to unduly harsh sentences and lead to harsher punishments that the media and
politicians want. Moral panics can lead to custodial sentences which would not usually be
given out for similar cases. For example, the Mods and the Rockers, a moral panic which
was created around fights and damage to Brighton beach caused by the mods and the
rockers. Newspapers and media outlets exaggerated the story by making up sources and
more serious crimes. Because of this the mods and the rockers became enemies for no
clear reason. Arrests were made for the crimes that took place. This shows to be an unduly
harsh sentence as people were being arrested for being a part of a crime that was
exaggerated by the media and was made to be seen as more serious than it was. (link to
brief)
Just verdict
A just verdict is when a trial is lawful, proper, and does justice to the facts of the case. The
guilty are punished and the innocent are not. One case that involved a just verdict was the
case of Stephen Lawrence. He was murdered in 1993 and became a prompt for
campaigning a change to the double jeopardy rule. The police investigation of this case was
incompetent and they were accused of being institutionally racist. This did not end in a
prosecution for any 5 suspects, but 2 charges were later dropped. The victim's parents got a
private prosecution against 3 of the 5 suspects. They were later acquitted as Duwayne
Brooks identification evidence was ruled as inadmissible. After the MacPherson report, it led
to a just verdict as the change led to a retrial and a conviction of the 5 suspects. This shows
a just verdict as the MacPherson report allowed a second prosecution on the same person in
serious crimes if new and compelling evidence had been found. one suspect in the case,
Dobson, was re-tried in 2012 along with David Norris. Both were convicted after tiny specks
of the victim's blood were found on their clothes. This means a just verdict was done after 19
years of the crime. Just verdicts are meant to ensure trials are lawful and do justice, however
this isn't always the case as shown in the Stephen Lawrence case, where police were not
being lawful and proper when carrying out the investigation. (link to brief)
Safe verdict