Home Department written question – answered at on 31 October 2006.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for (a) ex gratia payments of compensation from public funds for miscarriages of justice there have been since 1976 and (b) payments under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 there have been since its inception; how many such cases were decided by the assessors in each year; what the date was of each assessment; how much compensation was awarded in each case; how each award was made up; how much in legal costs was awarded in each case, broken down by type of cost; what the reasons were for the award of costs in each case; what the administrative costs, including fees and other benefits payable to the assessor, were in respect of each case; and what length of time was taken in each case (i) from receipt of the application to the assessment of eligibility, (ii) from acceptance of eligibility to assessment of compensation and (iii) from assessment of compensation to the payment of compensation.
The full information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, or by divulging details of individual awards. However, the following table gives information for the last five financial years regarding the number of applications for compensation in respect of miscarriages of justice, the number granted under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the number granted under the discretionary scheme, and the total spent on compensation for miscarriages of justice. Until the abolition of the ex gratia scheme on
Miscarriage of justice compensation applications and expenditure | ||||
Number of applications | Number granted under s133( 1) | Number granted under ex gratia( 2) | Total spend (£ million)( 3) | |
2001-02 | 101 | 17 | 10 | 6.17 |
2002-03 | 99 | 25 | 11 | 8.12 |
2003-04 | 104 | 27 | 8 | 6.25 |
2004-05 | 88 | 39 | 8 | 6.44 |
2005-06 | 74 | 21 | 6 | 8.27 |
(1 )Applications are not necessarily granted in the same year as the application is made, nor finalised in the same year that eligibility is approved. (2 )See footnote 1. (3 )This includes interim payments and payment of legal and other costs. |
Yes0 people think so
No1 person thinks not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.