What we can do for you

1 Application

The first stage is for you to send us an application form. This is to give us the basic information we need about your case and to tell us what you think is wrong with:

• your conviction
• your sentence
• or both

Your application to us does not have to be in legal language, but we must be able to see what argument you are putting before us. It may help you to keep the following points in mind when you are writing out your application.

If you are asking us to review your conviction, we will not be looking again at the facts of your case in the way the jury did to decide if you are guilty or innocent. Our concern will only be with the question which the Court of Appeal would ask, which is whether your conviction is unsafe.  This can mean us considering issues such as:

• was the trial as a whole fair?
• did the trial Judge make the correct legal rulings during the course of the trial (for example, in relation to disclosure of evidence, the admissibility of evidence or a submission of no case to answer)?
• did the trial Judge fairly sum up the case to the jury and assist the jury with the appropriate legal directions?
•  very importantly, is there now fresh evidence that was not presented at trial?

If the jury simply chose to believe the prosecution witnesses rather than you, this is not something we can consider.

If you are asking us to review your sentence, we can only do this if the sentence was:

• manifestly excessive the sentence was too high given the facts of the offence or in the light of any available personal mitigating circumstances

•  wrong in principle the sentencing Judge made some mistake when imposing the sentence. For example, there was no power to pass the particular sentence imposed or the sentence was passed on some incorrect factual or legal basis.

You should therefore explain to us why your sentence was manifestly excessive and/or wrong in principle.

Once your case is allocated to a caseworker the review or investigation of your case begins.

Soon after your application form is received we send out orders to the public bodies that have information about your case to make sure that the information is kept until we need it.

Most of the time our own staff do all the work needed to review a case.  This might include reading the case papers, obtaining advice and reports from experts in areas like science, law and investigations, tracing information, interviewing people, and visiting the scene.

We have the power to order external bodies to make enquiries on our behalf or and under our supervision.  This power might be used when a very large or specialised investigation needs to be undertaken, or where special powers, like those of the police are needed.

Once we have gathered all the information we need, the information is assembled and analysed by caseworking staff and by one or more Commissioners.

The decision about whether a case can be referred is made by one or more Commissioners.  A decision to refer a case to the Court of  Appeal can only be taken by a committee of three members sitting together.

We can only refer a case if certain criteria are met, the most important of which is whether there is a real possibility that the conviction, verdict, finding, or sentence would not be upheld if the case were to be referred.