A project by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) looking at previously closed cases where advances in forensic science could now provide new evidence about the identity of an offender has moved into its second phase.
The CCRC announced in April this year that it was analysing closed cases involving rape or murder from before 1 January 2016, to see where advances in forensic technology might reveal important new opportunities.
The Ministry of Justice has since provided extra funding of £250,000 to allow the CCRC to recruit staff to work on the project. This recruitment process is ongoing, with new staff expected to start early next year.
In the first phase of the project 5,500 relevant cases were identified in which applications to the CCRC had been turned down. Not all these cases raised a dispute about the identity of the offender.
This phase is now largely complete, and 1,247 cases have so far moved through to the second phase. There are around 300 cases which require further information to carry out the phase one assessment.
Phase two work is being completed by investigators who aim to identify cases where there are fresh forensic opportunities which could impact the safety of a conviction. This could involve cases where DNA technology has advanced since the individual was convicted, and forensic opportunities could now potentially exclude that person as the offender.
Since first announcing this project, phase two has expanded to involve more investigative work at this stage, before moving to phase three. This could potentially involve a level of forensic testing or establishing what materials are available. Cases will move to phase three if important new evidence is found.
Currently there are no cases that have moved through to phase three. This phase will re-open the case, and a Case Review Manager will move the process forward preparing for a potential referral to an appellate court.
The identities of those involved in these cases will not be disclosed.
“This is a huge task which requires substantial resources, but we have made significant progress since first announcing that the project was underway," said a CCRC spokesperson. “The next stages could take a considerable time; we do have a dedicated team working on it, and this is expanding, but we must balance this work with our important existing case reviews. We are pleased that we have been provided with funding to recruit extra staff to support this project, and this will help the project progress more efficiently.”
Republished courtesy of CCRC