A Guide to Information about the CCRC



A Guide to Information about the CCRCIntroductionThe Criminal Cases Review Commission has produced this Guide toInformation as a comprehensive publication scheme in line with theInformation Commissioner's Office (ICO) model publication scheme.This scheme commits the Commission to making information available to thepublic. It is designed to help people understand what information we routinelypublish about ourselves and our work and where that information can befound.We aim to make the most commonly sought pieces of information readily andeasily available. On our web pages at .uk you will find manyuseful documents and lots of information setting out our policies on everythingfrom how we conduct casework and handle complaints to how we deal withpersonal information and health and safety. (See particularly the Caseworkand Corporate Publications sections of the web pages.)In this guide you also will find some of the commonly requested generalinformation about who we are, what the Commission's values are and so on.Where possible, this guide will also direct you, via hypertext links, to places onour web pages where you can find more detailed information about thosesubjects. For instance, the hyper link Potential applicants' guidance will takeyou to the web page where you will find more information designed to help potential applicants and others understand more about the Commission and its role; at the foot of our homepage you will find a Questions & Answers document translatedinto many other languages.This Guide to Information is based on the ICO's model publication schemewhich divides information into seven categories. They are:Who we are and what we do: Organisational information, locations andcontacts, constitutional and legal governance.What we spend and how we spend it: Financial information relating toprojected and actual income and expenditure, tendering, procurementand contracts.What our priorities are and how we are doing: Strategy andperformance information, plans, assessments, inspections andreviews.How we make decisions: Policy proposals and decisions. Decisionmaking processes, internal criteria and procedures, consultations.Our policies and procedures: Current written protocols for deliveringour functions and responsibilities.Lists and Registers: Information held in registers required by law andother lists and registers relating to the functions of the authority.The Services we Offer: Advice and guidance, booklets and leaflets,transactions and media releases. A description of the services rmation in all seven of those categories is discussed in this guide and isavailable either via the Commission's website, in its HYPERLINK ""Annual Report andAccounts or on request in writing to the Commission (see the final section forcontact details for the Commission) . We will not usually make any charge forproviding information included in the publication scheme.The information available from the CCRC under this publication scheme issubject to regular review by the Commission's Head of Communication. It waslast updated in December 2015.Anyone wanting published information in a paper format, or at a different size,should contact the Head of Communication. Assistance in a language otherthan English will be considered. Contact details for the Commission can beseen in the final section of this guide.If you need information concerning a criminal conviction in Scotland you needto contact the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. See.ukGeneral information about the CCRC, its role and powersThe Criminal Cases Review Commission is the independent body set up toinvestigate miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales and NorthernIreland.Our vision and purpose is:? To bring justice to the wrongly convicted by referring cases to theappellate courts. To identify, investigate and correct miscarriages ofjustice in a timely manner.? To act independently in the interests of justice and to use our uniqueknowledge and experience to improve the criminal justice system andto inspire confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice process.Our aims are:? To investigate cases as efficiently and effectively as possible withthoroughness and care.? To work constructively with our stakeholders and to the higheststandards of quality.? To treat applicants, and anyone affected by our work, with courtesy,respect and consideration.? To promote public understanding of the Commission’s role.Our values are:Independence, Integrity, Impartiality, Professionalism, Accountability,Transparency, Timeliness.The Commission was created as a non-departmental public body (NDPB) bythe Criminal Appeal Act 1995. It was established formally on 1 January 1997.From 31 March 1997, it assumed the responsibilities for reviewingmiscarriages of criminal justice previously exercised by the Home Office andthe Northern Ireland Office. There should always be at least 11Commissioners who bring to the Commission considerable experience from awide variety of backgrounds. Appointments to the Commission are made inaccordance with the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments'Code of Practice. The Commission's powers extend to England, Wales andNorthern Ireland. Its offices are located at 5 St Philip’s Place, Birmingham, B32PW.The Commission's main functions under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 are:? To review alleged and suspected miscarriages of justice, and to refer aconviction, verdict, finding or sentence to the appropriate court ofappeal when the Commission considers that there is a real possibilitythat it would not be upheld.? To investigate and report to the Court of Appeal on any matter referredto the Commission by the Court.? To consider and report to the Secretary of State on any matter referredto the Commission arising from consideration of whether or not torecommend exercise of Her Majesty's prerogative of mercy in relationto a conviction.The Commission's powers and responsibilities cover criminal convictions fromthe Crown Court and the magistrates' courts of England Wales and NorthernIreland. The Commission also has responsibility for reviewing allegedmiscarriages of justice arising, after 31 October 2009, the from the CourtMartial and the Service Civilian Court. The Commission’s jurisdiction does notextend to cover offences in the armed forces that were deal with summarily(by Commanding Officers) or dealt with in the Summary Appeal Court.The Commission has the power to obtain or preserve documents and othermaterials held by any public body (the Act, section 17). See Section 17. It canrequire the appointment of an Investigating Officer from another public body tocarry out enquiries (see Section 19), or take any other steps that it considersappropriate to assist it in the exercise of its functions (Section 21).A lesser known function of the Commission is that it can be called upon by theCourt of Appeal Criminal Division, under section 15 of the Criminal Appeal Act1995 (and section 23A of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968), to investigate andreport on matters arising from first appeals; see HYPERLINK ""Section 15 Directions fromthe Court of Appeal.Section 16 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 gives the Commission two areasof responsibility relating to the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. One is torecommend the use of the Royal Prerogative where the Commission sees fit,the other is to respond to requests from the Secretary of State in relation tothe use of the Royal Prerogative.Sources of Information about the CommissionThe main source of public information about the Commission are theCommission’s web pages which can be accessed by going .uk.This is where the Commission publishes a lot of information about who weare, what we do and how to apply to us, including a downloadable HYPERLINK ""Easy Readapplication form, a Guidance for applicants document and a HYPERLINK ""Guidance forlegal representatives document.Other information on the web pages includes:Formal Memoranda These can be found in the Casework Publications sectionof the website. These documents set out the approach that the CCRC willusually take in relation to particular aspects of casework and provide details ofcasework policies. There are more than 30 Formal Memoranda coveringvarious aspects of CCRC casework.Annual Report and Accounts: This can be found in the Corporate Publicationssection of the website. These documents are produced annually and report onthe how the Commission has discharged its duties during each financial yearand contain the Commission’s accounts for that year. They are required of usby law and need to be laid before both houses of Parliament; this usuallyhappens in July. The document is published on the web pages soon after ithas been received in Parliament.Corporate Plan This can be found in the Corporate Publications section of thewebsite. It describes the statutory powers and responsibilities of theCommission, and sets out its vision, mission, objectives and goals on a three yearrolling basis.Business Plan This can also be found in the Corporate Publications section ofthe website. It details how the Commission plans to achieve the objectives setout in its Corporate Plan. It sets out the Commission’s priorities, resources andmethods of monitoring plaints Procedure can be found in the Casework Publications section ofthe website. The Commission is not subject to the jurisdiction of theParliamentary Commissioner for Administration, but has implemented its owntwo stage procedure for dealing with complaints independently of thecasework function. Information about the procedure can be found on the webpages the link above.Structure of the CommissionThe structure of the Commission is covered in detail in the GovernanceStatement published each year in the accounts section of the HYPERLINK ""Annual Reportand Accounts.There should always be at least eleven Commissioners including onedesignated as the Chair of the Commission. All are appointed by Her MajestyThe Queen in accordance with the guidance issued by the Office of theCommissioner for Public Appointments.Profiles of the current Chair and Commissioners can be seen in theCommissioners section of the website.The day-to-day running of the Commission is the responsibility of theDirectors who together they make up the Senior Management Team. At 31December, 2012, the Directors were Ms Karen Kneller, Chief Executive (andAccounting Officer), Mr Ian Brooks, Director of Finance & CorportateServices, and Ms Sally Berlin, Director of Casework Operations.Details of remuneration paid to Commissioners and to members of seniormanagement can be seen in the current Annual Report and Accounts. TheCommission keeps a register of non-pecuniary and declared pecuniaryinterests of Board members. This can be made available for inspection byappointment.The Case Review ProcessThe Commission currently handles around 1,500 applications a year frompeople who have been convicted of criminal offences in England, Wales andNorthern Ireland. It reviews each eligible case and makes a decision onwhether or not to refer the case to the relevant appeal court.The CCRC application form and details of how to apply can be seen on theForms and How to Apply section of the website where you will also find theQuestions & Answers document designed to help people decide whether ornot they should be applying to the Commission.Details of what happens to an application when it arrives at the Commissioncan be seen on the Making an Application section of the website.There is much more detail about the Commission case review processes inthe casework policies section of the website and particularly in the documentscalled Stage 1 Decisions and Stage 2 Decision Making Process.Current case statistics can be seen at the foot of the About the CriminalCases Review Commission page of the website where a regularly updatedtable shows running totals of: the number of applications received, thenumber of cases waiting for a review, the number of cases under review,number of completed cases, the number of referrals made and the outcomeof Commission referral cases that have been heard in the appeal courts.A summary of each year's casework activity, including the number ofapplications and the results (where known) of referrals by the Commission,are published each year in the HYPERLINK ""Annual Report andAccounts.The Commission web pages feature a case library that lists and providessome details about all the cases that have been referred by the Commissionto the appeal courts.Human ResourcesIf a staff vacancy arises at the Commission it is usually advertised on thewebsite under Jobs at the CCRC. Anyone who wants to contact us aboutcareers at the Commission when there are no current vacancies shownshould send an e-mail to hr@.uk or write to Human Resources at theaddress given below.The Commission’s Single Equality Scheme, its Code of best practice for staffand Commissioners, its Health and Safety Policy Statement are available inthe Corporate Publications section of the website.Requesting Information from the CommissionIf you cannot find what you want among the information that is routinelypublished by the Commission, you might want to consider making a requestfor information.You will find the Commission’ policies concerning Freedom of Information and Data Protection in Corporate Publications section of our website. You can find details about information rights in relation to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 at the website of the Information Commissioners’ Office.Contacting the Criminal Cases Review CommissionThe Commission is based in Birmingham city centre at:5 St Philip’s PlaceBirminghamB3 2PWTel: 0121 233 1473Fax: 0121 232 0899Our DX address is: DX: 715466 Birmingham 41EmailFor information: info@.ukFor media enquiries: press@.ukFor recruitment: hr@.ukFor complaints: complaints@.uk ................
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