Portfolio Justice Interview


Reviewing the evidence


Ross Reid Justice Correspondent


The organisation that is often the last resort for miscarriage of justice victims


It is an organisation that the majority of


Scots will be unfamiliar with; by public sector standards, it has a tiny staff roll and a budget of just little over £1m a year. But the Scottish Criminal Case Review


Commission (SCCRC) is at the heart of the country’s efforts to uphold key judicial principles. Responsible for investigating potential


miscarriages of justice, the independent body is sometimes the only thing that stands in the way of a person’s life being forever tainted by a wrongful conviction. Te commission reviews minor to the most


serious cases, and from recent to historic. In recent years, for example, the commission was asked to review the conviction of William Wallace and that of Culloden veteran James Stewart, who was hanged more than 250 years ago. In one of its most controversial reviews


since its creation in 1999, the commission produced a report saying there could have been a miscarriage of justice in the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing. Gerry Sinclair, the commission’s chief


executive, said that while the SCCRC reviews and investigates more than 100 cases a year, he believes Scotland has a robust legal system. Te commission was created following widespread unrest that stemmed from the length of time it had taken to quash infamous miscarriages of justice in England, like the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six. Reviews were set up north and south of the border, the result of which saw the creation of independent bodies whose sole remit was to look at potential miscarriages of justice. Sinclair said: “Te biggest challenge is


maintaining public confidence, whilst at the same time maintaining the confidence of the judiciary and legal profession – both have different expectations of the commission and


48 Holyrood January 2011 Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission (SCCRC), Chief Executive Gerry Sinclair


both have different aspirations for the work of the commission. “Tere is a healthy tension there and


the commission is the bridge between the differing sides.” Since 1999 it has received more than 1200


cases to review – of which it has referred 99 back to the High Court. In 2003 Sinclair became chief executive


of the SCCRC, which is one of only three independent bodies in the world that looks at potential miscarriages of justice. It is a factor that poses certain challenges to the organisation. Sinclair added: “Tere are only three


commissions like this in the world, which includes ourselves and the similar bodies operating in England and in Norway. “I think that, along with the fact we have


only been in operation 11 years, makes it a great challenge. We don’t have the luxury of


being able to go back 30 or 40 years to see how our predecessors dealt with certain matters and we don’t have a great deal of knowledge base from other countries to look at. “So, to some extent, we are a small group


that have to decide matters ourselves and to hopefully be robust enough in our decision- making process to sustain any challenges that come our way.” He added: “One thing that is certain is


that things in Scotland are progressing. Te right to appeal was created in 1926 and between then and 1999, only 20 cases were ever referred back to the appeal court – that is about one every three years. “Since the creation of the commission in


1999 until March this year, there had been 97 referrals and I would argue that that it is an indicator of the benefits of this organisation. It is more active than anything we have had before, it is detailed and thorough and


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