Misjustice: How British Law is Failing Women

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This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: scarce and scarcely. Improve your English with Collins. Manning, P.K. (2003). Policing Contingencies. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-50351-6.

The coalition, including charities, trades unions, human rights bodies and religion or belief groups, is believed to be the largest of its kind in UK history, according to Humanists UK, which established it. Garrett, Brandon L. (January 13, 2020). "Wrongful Convictions". Annual Review of Criminology. 3 (1): 245–259. doi: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-011518-024739. ISSN 2572-4568. S2CID 243044157. Qualitatively Estimating the Incidence of Wrongful Convictions" (PDF). , Criminal Law Bulletin 48(2) [2012] 221—279

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Police often use coercive manipulation techniques when conducting interrogations in hopes of obtaining a confession. In the United States, one of these is known as the Reid Technique after the officer who developed it, John Reid. Introduced in the 1940s and 50s, the strategy relies on deception, coercion and aggressive confrontation to secure confessions. It became the leading interrogation method used by law enforcement throughout the United States and has led to many confessions by innocent people. [27] As of 2014, this technique was still popular with police interrogators even though the strategy produces less information from suspects, provides fewer true confessions and more false confessions than less confrontational interviewing techniques. [28] Perjury and false accusations [ edit ] A major factor leading to the abolition of capital punishment for murder in the United Kingdom was the case of Timothy Evans, who was executed in 1950 after being wrongfully convicted of a murder that had in fact been committed by his neighbour. Having been recommended to read Eve Was Framed: Women and British Justice I came across this more recent update of Helena Kennedy's 1993 book. Here, she notes in the introduction noticeable improvements and solutions to problems which she raised then, and where work still needs to be done. The introduction itself is one of the best parts of the book and I would recommend it for anyone wanting a good overview of the treatment of women at the hands of the courts in the UK and for an excellent account of Kennedy's own views. a b c Duncan, Colby (2019) "Justifying Justice: Six Factors of Wrongful Convictions and Their Solutions" Law student and GMLC’s campaign volunteer lead, Hoejong Jeong, considers the barriers that stand in the way of ordinary people getting access to justice, looking at three recent case studies in the news. As the cases show, without access to legal aid or proper legal advice, domestic abuse survivors and detained migrants struggle to protect themselves and their rights.

Depressingly, there is not much in here that is new. That is not Helena Kennedy’s fault: it’s simply that the ways in which the law judges women different and unfairly are so deeply established. Even when a wrongly convicted person is not executed, years in prison can have a substantial, irreversible effect on the person and their family. The risk of miscarriage of justice is therefore also an argument against long sentences, like a life sentence, and cruel prison conditions. we have equal legal rights to spend real time with our families, where there really is equal pay, where the pressures of the long-hours culture are removed, where pay in the caring professions was made so rewarding that it did not invariably fall to women to look after the elderly, the disabled or children in nurseries, nor that teaching in primary schools was a female role.”

Overly confident testimony by expert witnesses can also lead to miscarriages of justice. The credibility of expert witnesses depends on numerous factors - in particular, their credentials, personal likability and self-confidence which all impact on how believable they are. The confidence with which experts present their evidence has also been noted to influence jurors, who tend to assume that a witness who is anxious or nervous is lying. [18] The manner in which experts testify may have a greater impact on judges and lawyers who prefer experts who provide clear, unequivocal conclusions. [22] Reform pre-charge bail to better protect vulnerable victims and witnesses. Known as Kay’s Law this will put victims of crime at the heart of police decision making and support the timely progression of investigations. The following cases are examples of where people have been denied access to justice due to legal aid budget cuts. Eve Was Shamed focusses on the British justice system. If you live elsewhere, how did the issues raised compare? Were there similarities or differences? Changing the threshold for passing a sentence below the minimum term for repeat offenders, including key serious offences such as ‘third strike’ burglary which carries a minimum three-year custodial sentence and ‘two strike’ knife possession which has a minimum 6-month sentence for adults, making it less likely that a court will depart from theses minimum terms.

Stronger youth community sentencing options, including greater use of location monitoring and longer daily curfews, providing robust alternatives to custody.The introduction about the barriers to entering law school was something I could relate to from my own experience trying to access the veterinary profession, which is very elitist. Gloria Morrison, a co-founder of the campaign, told the rally: “JENGbA’s campaign is based on love – we love our families. If [our loved ones] had done something wrong, we would still love them, but we wouldn’t be on the streets fighting that they had been wrongfully convicted.” Kennedy discusses the need for increased diversity in professions such as law. Do you think these professions should have quotas to ensure they meet diversity aims?