Miscarriage of justice
| Miscarriage of justice link (concept) | |
|---|---|
| In the UK, the biggest miscarriage of justice is the Fujitsu Horizon scandal |
A miscarriage of justice occurs when there is an unfair outcome in criminal or civil proceedings. Examples of miscarriage of justice include conviction of an innocent person, error of impunity, sentencing disparity, and delayed justice.
Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation.
Contributing factors
Academic studies have found that the main factors contributing to miscarriages of justice are: eyewitness misidentification; faulty forensic analysis; false confessions by vulnerable suspects; perjury and lies stated by witnesses; misconduct by police, prosecutors or judges; and/or ineffective assistance of counsel (e.g., inadequate defence strategies by the defendant's or respondent's legal team).[1]
References
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