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The following day, the Colloquium was attended by over 80
delegates comprised of prominent academics from the UK, the
USA, and Australia, interested parties from the campaigning
organisations, leading activists, and criminal appeal lawyers.
During the day, members from the Innocence Networks in the
USA and Australia shared information on the various models
that innocence projects can take, as well as their own personal
experiences of their day-to-day running. Victims of wrongful
imprisonment such as Paddy Hill (Birmingham 6) and Mike O’Brien
(Cardiff Newsagent Three) spoke of the harm that they had
endured and their continuing struggle to fit back into society
after over a decade of incarceration. Representatives from
leading legal organisations, including the Law Society, the
Historical Abuse Appeal Panel (HAAP), the Criminal Appeal
Lawyers Association (CALA), and important forensic scientists,
all expressed their commitment to assisting with Innocence
Projects, and the Innocence Network in the UK. The day was
concluded by Sir Ludovic Kennedy, a campaigner against wrongful
convictions for almost half a century, with a rousing speech
on the necessity of a united movement to bring about meaningful
and lasting reform of the criminal justice system.
Even the CCRC welcomed the creation of the INUK and the Innocence
projects initiative, conceding that they were often helpless
in assisting innocent victims of wrongful conviction if they
did not fulfil the criteria laid down under the Criminal Appeal
Act 1995. The limits of the appellate system dictate that
applicants to the CCRC must present fresh evidence or fresh
arguments to have their cases referred to the appeal court.
This means that if the CCRC have evidence of innocence that
was available at the original trial, it will not always constitute
grounds for referral.
Feedback from exit questionnaires confirmed that the day
was a resounding success and it was firmly established that
there is both a need and a desire to establish an Innocence
Network in UK, to improve the criminal justice system.
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