Locking the wrong people up may be good for crime statistics (and those whose promotions depend on them), but it fails the victims, and allows the perpetrators to walk free and commit further crimes. A simple clarification of the existing law on disclosure would would bring an end to these miscarriages of justice.

If Sally Clark or Andrew Malkinson had been entitled to full disclosure of all the evidence held by the authorities at the time a verdict was delivered at their criminal trials, they would not have racked up more than 20 yeas in prison time between them for crimes they did not commit!

Over 2000 victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal would similarly not have had to wait over decade to have their wrongful convictions quashed had they had access to ALL the evidence held by prosecutors after their original guilty verdict had been delivered.

There are hundreds of thousands more like them in the UK. These problems have arisen because of the disclosure Act CPIA1996, and the failure of the authorities to interpret it in the manner intended by Parliament.

The denial of access to evidence post-verdict deprives defendants from verifying that the prosecution complied with disclosure requirements imposed by law. In essence, it forces defendants and the courts to trust that there were no errors or omissions made during an assessment conducted solely by their opposition who are incentivised to obtain convictions - a situation that can and does lead to miscarriages of justice. 

The prosecutions duty to self police what they disclose prior to obtaining a conviction, should be fully open to scrutiny by the defendants and the courts in compliance with the Act.

The simple fact is, it is impossible to do so at present. All requests for full disclosure or data under the data protection Act are denied. Defendants, are forced to go to the court of appeal with nothing more than the evidence used to convict them at trial. This situation is obviously flawed. It is the reason we have hundreds of thousands of miscarriages of justice, many not as high profile as Andrew Malkinson or the Post Office. Many who are simply forced to serve their time, and pick up the pieces of their broken lives afterwards in the absence of the evidence and significant resources required to challenge their conviction. This situation is obviously not justice at all.

For fairer criminal justice system, we are calling for full and compliant disclosure of all evidence after a verdict has been delivered in criminal trials, as permitted by CPIA1996 (the disclosure Act). This should be mandated as part of our legal process.

By signing this petition, you will be advocating for change that could potentially rectify flaws within our current system and provide those wrongly convicted with an opportunity to verify compliance with disclosure requirements, a process which is currently opaque.

Full disclosure of evidence in this manner would ensure prosecutors are more diligent when carefully selecting evidence for limited disclosure, and also provide defendants with the means to bring an effective appeal where a miscarriage of justice has occurred. Stand up for justice today – sign this petition!