Clause 62
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
3:45 pm
Harry Cohen (Leyton and Wanstead, Labour)
Yes. Whether that has resulted in the reduction of the time limit to two years, or the opposite, it is not the right approach in my opinion. Some victims of miscarriages of justice have suffered terrible consequences—some have had their lives ruined or even foreshortened, so it is not right to compare them to the victims of crime.
A more appropriate comparison, which was made by Liberty, would be with civil court processes for damages claims. Those processes have a six-year period in which they permit the bringing of civil actions, and it would be appropriate for that to apply to the victims of miscarriages of justice. That view is shared by Liberty.
I am also concerned about the upper limit that will be imposed. In some cases, especially the ones in which people’s lives are badly affected, there is a case for ensuring that the compensation reflects the entirety of the damage caused. The actual amount could be quite a low proportion of that, which would be a matter of concern. I wanted to take the opportunity provided by a clause stand part debate to signal my concerns about the measures.