Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: Time for action on criminal case review commission – Proctor – Legal Perspective
A panel discussion featuring exonerees Kathleen Folbigg and Terry Irving will highlight the need for a Criminal Cases Review Commission at an upcoming event hosted by the Griffith University Innocence Project.
Folbigg and Irving each bring their unique perspective on wrongful conviction in Australia to next week’s event that aims to move the issue of establishing a commission from conversation to action.
Griffith Innocence Project Director, Dr Robyn Blewer, said the need is clear and it is time for action.
“It’s time to move forward,” Dr Blewer said.
“The task in front of us is monumental and we’re under no illusion about that.
“But we also know that no government in Australia is likely to take it on of their own accord, so we want to formulate a design – essentially looking to hand it to government on a platter.
“This will make for one less excuse to ignore calls for a more effective response to the problem of miscarriages of justice than any jurisdiction in the country has provided to date.”
She said that the DNA inquiries in Queensland, continued over-incarceration of First Peoples and the recent ‘Adult Time for Adult Crime’ reforms mean we should not be complacent about criminal justice in this state.
“There is a critical need to balance such reforms with a commitment to ensuring justice for those who have been wrongly convicted by providing the additional safety net of an organisation like a CCRC,” Dr Blewer said.
The program will feature video presentations by Dame Vera Baird DBE KC, the Interim Chair of the UK CCRC, and Kent Roach, Professor of Law at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. The pair will share reflections on the establishment of the UK CCRC and Canada’s Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission.
Other contributors include Australian lawyers and barristers, Stephen Keim SC, Terry O’Gorman AM.
Presented in partnership with the Queensland chapter of the International Commission of Jurists, the Designing a Criminal Cases Review Commission seminar in Australia will be held QCAD Lecture Theatre (S05), South Bank next Thursday 29th February from 11.00am until 5.30pm.
More details and registrations.
More information about the Griffith University Innocence Project.