Calls to reform compensation over miscarriages of justice
Sam Hallam, Victor Nealon, Brian Buckle, Oliver Campbell and Ahmed Adan have collectively spent more than 50 years in jail for crimes they did not commit — yet none has received a single penny in compensation.
That is the result of a change in the law introduced in 2014 under the Cameron premiership, which means victims of miscarriages of justice whose convictions are overturned must prove their innocence beyond all reasonable doubt to receive compensation.
Campaigners argue that as a result of the 'brutal' test, which sets an 'impossible standard' for most, 93 per cent of applicants who have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned are denied compensation.
Appeal, the charity law firm that represented Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, and the law reform group Justice are calling on the lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, to scrap the test to ensure victims of miscarriages of justice are fairly compensated for the harm done to them.
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