Designing a guide on appeals and the CCRC

I recently led a project which explored the experiences of people who seek to have their conviction (or sentence) overturned on appeal and the experience of making application to the CCRC. That report revealed – among participants - widespread and significant problems accessing legal advice, difficulty understanding exactly what the CCRC is asking of applicants, widespread feeling that the CCRC does not communicate well with applicants and widespread concern about the nature and extent of investigation performed by the CCRC. While individual cases were not examined, and therefore the CCRC’s work on such matters was not interrogated, the findings support many of the criticisms levied at the CCRC in recent years. The CCRC’s response to our report can be read here.

During that project, and speaking with APPEAL (who also provided assistance to us at various stages of the work), we each noted that women seem to experience the post-conviction  criminal justice process differently, and potentially need different resources to those that are currently available. The CCRC has also performed specialist outreach work for women, yet the project suggested the resources are not reaching everyone in the ways needed. With that in mind, I am currently working with APPEAL to design a guide on appeals and the CCRC. While this guide is initially focused on assisting women to navigate appeals and the CCRC, there is no reason it could not be developed more widely in due course.

What are our aims?

Our overall objective is to produce a guide to appeals and applying to the CCRC. We hope that the guide will be a useful resource for people who want to try and have their conviction and/or sentence overturned. To make the guide as useful as possible, we are trying to learn about people’s experiences of criminal appeals and CCRC.

We want to hear about experiences of what women may have found easy or more challenging when considering an appeal, and/or applying to the CCRC. We want to learn about the problems they have faced to help us develop a guide to appeal processes, specifically for women. Those insights could help shape a fairer and more supportive system for women challenging wrongful convictions.

What are you asking people to do?

In order to help us prepare that guide, we are looking to speak to women willing to share their experiences who:

· Were convicted in a court in England and Wales in the past decade

· Maintain they are not guilty of the crime

· Are not in prison

For those willing to speak with us, we will ask them to read a more detailed information sheet. If people agree to take part, we will ask them to complete a consent form. We will then arrange a group discussion to share experiences and ideas. Anything which is shared in that discussion will be anonymised.

Unfortunately, we cannot help with individual cases. What we are told will not influence any appeals or applications to the CCRC. If we are asked, we can provide information about organisations that might be able to help.

Do you want to be involved?

If you are interested in our work, there are several ways in which you might be able to get involved.

First, we plan to conduct two focus groups on Wednesday 27th August, with both in-person (in London) and online options available. The focus group will last up to 90 minutes. Travel expenses can be covered for those attending in person, and refreshments will be available. What participants tell us will be anonymised.

If you are interested in participating, please complete or share this short form.

If you are unable to participate yourself, but know other people who might be able to participate, please share our information and invite others to contact us. Please do also share this information among any networks who might have relevant interests.

If you would like to participate, or simply want more information about the project, please don’t hesitate to contact us via l.c.welsh@sussex.ac.uk

By Dr Lucy Welsh

Dr Lucy Welsh is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Criminal Justice at the University of Sussex.