It simply is not justice! The Post Office scandal, and miscarriages of justice like that of Andrew Malkinson prove this beyond all reasonable doubt. A Justice system not fit for purpose fails every citizen.
The public assume that parliament had good intentions when they created our disclosure legislation (CPIA1996), which is what enabled these wrongful convictions. What they actually created was the best law money can buy!
The law is designed to look after the rich and powerful, not ordinary people. Prison is for the rest of us, priced out of affording even an adequate defence, and a legal system that has no impartiality, fairness, or real concern what we the people think of it. It only costs the public purse £18.5Bn a year, plus another £25.3Bn for the police. The legal aid bill is a paltry £870 million by comparison - underfunded by design, to ensure a level of legal representation for us mere mortals that is little more than a hand holding exercise while in court.
It does not cover the costs of examining ALL the evidence that would convict you, but that of course does not matter. Why? because nobody is going to let you see all the evidence held by the authorities, not before trail, not during trial, not before you appeal your conviction. Not ever!
What we have now in the United Kingdom is a kangaroo courts system, where judges are satisfied with limited disclosure, and one that the State authorities abuse to convict people on a daily basis - because it is for the authorities alone to apply the disclosure test, and for nobody to verify that they have done so correctly and in compliance with the law.
It is, in it's entirety a SHAM!
Politicians use all of this to their advantage - a high conviction rate convinces the voters they are being kept safe. The low success of appeals (because defendants cannot get the evidence even if they know exists, and which would exonerate them), provides statistics our politicians can hold up to confirm how effective and correct our justice system is.
Many defendants, lured into a false sense that our justice system embodies fairness, impartiality and, well, justice – assume they will get a fair trial. The reality is shocking.
On arriving at court for trial, many are still dismayed to find they will never get FULL disclosure of evidence, but only that cherry picked by their adversaries. At this point, a meeting often takes place between defendants and their legal representatives who inform the defendant that, given the amount of time already spent on remand, and with discount for a guilty plea, they could be eligible for immediate release, rather than spending a few more years in prison. On this basis, faced with the possibility of soon being home with their families, many simply give up and plead guilty, even when they are not!
This once again, unfortunately, reinforces the MOJ's statistics on the success of the system - they are able to demonstrate a higher conviction to acquittal ratio. It is not justice by any stretch of the imagination.
Please if you have not already signed this campaign, do so now. If you have not already written to your MP demanding to know what they will do about ensuring the Centre for Criminal Appeals 2018 recommendations are adopted, please do so now.
The bedrock of a civilised society is it’s justice system. Ours is clearly in the clag!
Collectively we can make a difference!