Innocence Projects
INUK’s casework is undertaken by the innocence project that it established at the University of Bristol in January 2005, the first innocence project in the UK.
Click here for the University of Bristol Innocence Project website.
Click here for information on applying for casework assistance.
Please note: All INUK innocence project investigations are conducted on a pro bono (free for public good) basis.
Additionally, INUK has to date actively assisted in setting up 34 innocence projects in other universities in England, Scotland and Wales and in a corporate law firm. For an annual subscription, INUK provides a casework referral service to member innocence projects that agree to work to the INUK Protocols, linking them with eligible applicants to undertake independent, objective investigations. End of year reports are required to enable INUK to assess whether reasonable progress has been made on cases referred to member innocence projects and to decide whether renewal of membership is to be offered.
Click here for information on setting up a member innocence project in your university or law firm.
What is an Innocence Project?
An Innocence Project is a group of students investigating the case of a convicted person maintaining innocence who has exhausted the initial appeals process. Innocence projects work under academic supervision and with pro bono legal assistance from a practising lawyer where appropriate.
Caseworkers aim to conduct thorough, objective and independent investigations of claims of factual innocence by alleged victims of wrongful conviction. If evidence of factual innocence is found or the evidence that led to the conviction is discredited, innocence projects will assist in making an application to the CCRC or the SCCRC for that person’s case to be reviewed for referral back to the appeal courts.
It is also possible that innocence projects may make applications for a Free Pardon under the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in applications to the Secretary of State if strong evidence of factual innocence exist that does not provide legal grounds for appeal in the eyes of the CCRC and/or the SCCRC.
There are no definitive criteria for innocence projects, other than that they are concerned with allegations of factual/actual innocence as opposed to allegations of technical miscarriages of justice. Innocence projects do not consider claims that murder convictions should have been convictions for manslaughter, for instance.
INUK and its member innocence projects are not a replacement for legal aid.
Why do we need the Innocence Projects?
The structures of the existing criminal appeal system cannot guarantee that all innocent victims of wrongful conviction will overturn their convictions. Instead, the appeal courts attempt to determine whether criminal convictions are ‘unsafe’ in terms of whether the trial was ‘fair’, understood as compliance with the prevailing rules, as opposed to fair in terms of a just outcome from a lay social justice perspective where a factually guilty person is convicted in a criminal trial and a factually innocent person acquitted.
In addition, legal aid is not always available to persons maintaining their innocence wishing to appeal, so finances are often a huge problem. Also, much has been written about the reducing number of criminal legal aid lawyers, so access to appropriate legal advice is not always easy.
What do Innocence Projects do?
Innocence project investigations generally consist of the following:
- obtaining and analyzing all available used and unused evidence
- requesting for retention of evidence
- conducting prison visits to alleged innocent victims of wrongful conviction
- tracing and interviewing witnesses
- conducting comprehensive research on forms of evidence
- exploring new methods (e.g. DNA testing or other forensic science techniques) that could establish the validity of a claim of innocence
- consulting with forensic science experts
- making submissions to the appropriate public/ legal bodies, particularly the Criminal Cases Review Commission or the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
Innocence projects are independent from the structures of the adversarial system and are neither defence nor prosecutorial oriented. Rather, innocence project investigations are geared towards truth seeking or testing the credibility of the claim of innocence, critically interrogating existing evidence or utilising new methods or techniques to prove or disprove the claim of innocence of an alleged victim of a wrongful conviction.
Overview of the stages of innocence project investigations
Educational benefits of innocence projects
Practical Limitations of innocence projects
INUK Innocence Projects Protocols
INUK welcomes the diversity of ways in which innocence project work might be undertaken. INUK also encourages its member innocence projects to share ideas and best practices so that we can make better progress on our cases as a network.
INUK’s member innocence projects sign up to the INUK Innocence Project Protocols which are implemented to ensure that quality pro bono casework assistance is provided. INUK member innocence projects operate independently within these basic protocols.
INUK Innocence Projects Protocols
For more information about how innocence projects operate, please see: Frequently Asked Questions.