Looking a few days ago among my papers, I happened upon something that echoes the story captured so powerfully by ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
In April 1992, as a member of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, I sent the chairman, Lord Runciman, an eight-page memo asking that it be circulated to fellow commission members. The memo was entitled ‘Re Miscarriages of Justice’. It raised half-a-dozen different issues, starting with ‘CPS HQ “sitting on” information relevant to a miscarriage of justice’ and ‘C3 of the Home Office are also prone to excessive delay’.
Home Office Guidance to Chief Officers on Police and Discipline Procedures stated that when an investigation brought to light material suggesting that a prosecution was unsafe or unfounded, ‘the chief officer should immediately draw the relevant material to the attention of the Crown Prosecution Service (Headquarters)’ (para 4.29).
If something has to be reported immediately to the CPS, the reasonable expectation is that it would lead
