MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE

Answer 1

Miscarriage of justice refers to a situation where a person is wrongly convicted or punished for a crime they did not commit. It occurs when errors or flaws in the legal process, such as misconduct by law enforcement officials, evidence tampering, false testimonies, or inadequate legal representation, result in an unjust verdict or sentence. Miscarriages of justice not only have devastating consequences for the individuals wrongfully convicted but also erode public trust in the justice system

Answer 2

The mistakes that occur within the criminal justice system can be described in various ways; the criminal justice system is founded on the presumption of innocence; a legal fiction intended to insulate the individual from abuses of state power and reduces the likelihood of a factually innocent person being convicted. In order to cast this protective net as widely as possible, the appellate test has to be expressed in the neutral term of ‘safety’. The media and campaigners have different motivations and usually focus upon cases of innocence in order to attract public interest and to achieve reform. Despite the moral and political impact of innocence cases, for those who seek to safeguard the rights of defendants and to uphold the integrity of the criminal justice system, it is imperative to resist allowing the criminal justice debate to degenerate into competing claims of guilt versus innocence.

Miscarriage of Justice has been defined as “A grossly unfair outcome in a judicial proceeding, as when a dependant is convicted despite lack of evidence on an essential element of the crime.” (Barak, 2007). This definition can be attributed to wrongful arrests, wrongful charges or indictments, wrongful sentences, but most notably wrongful convictions arising from improper and insufficient investigations. According to Barak, There are two general types of miscarriages of justice which are ‘errors of due Process’ and errors of impunity’. “Errors of due process involve unwarranted harassment, detention or conviction, or excessive sanctioning of people suspected of crimes”. Errors of impunity refer to a “Lapse of justice that allows a culpable offender to remain at large or escape justice in some way. Error of due process can lead to error of impunity, thus, if a person is wrongly arrested, convicted and imprisoned for a crime that he/she did not commit. There is a good chance that the real offender will remain free to commit other offences, meanwhile, there is a probability that the real offender will be arrested, convicted and arrested for another crime. Both types of error can undermine the integrity and legitimacy of the Criminal Justice system.