Hewitt, Louise ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1119-9137 and McGourlay, Claire (2026) Innocence organisations: where’s the appeal? In: Jasinski, Dan and McGuirk, Noel, (eds.) Citizens, the State and Justice: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge, London. ISBN 978-1003399438 (doi:10.4324/9781003399438-13)

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Abstract

Innocence organisations provide a solution to fill the funding gap in the criminal justice process where convicted individuals who maintain their innocence are denied access to justice if they cannot pay for it. Innocence work starts after the appeals process and supports individuals who want to make applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Students working alongside academics and lawyers undertake this work as part of clinical legal education, deconstructing claims of innocence to find a new legal argument and/or fresh evidence, both of which form the requirements for a CCRC application. The main challenges facing this work are the restrictive nature of the CCRC’s statutory test of real possibility (which essentially protects the Court of Appeal) and the ability to obtain evidence post-conviction for an application to the CCRC. This chapter examines the role of innocence organisations in the context of the criminal justice system in England and Wales, alongside the learning derived from this type of clinical legal education. It further considers the two significant challenges outlined previously as to the effect they have on innocence work.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Innocence project, CCRC
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General) K Law > KD England and Wales
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Law and Criminology
Last Modified:	06 Mar 2026 15:53
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/52606

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