Criminal Cases Review Commission: Legal Aid and Legal Representatives

自1997年以来，CCRC一直是唯一一个对可能的司法不公进行独立审查的机构。它在刑事司法程序中是一个至关重要的机构，因为它审查我们刑事法院的决定和决策过程。它独立审查此类决定的能力提高了刑事司法系统的合法性、准确性和公众信心。然而，CCRC持有的数据很难访问，需要该部门和司法部的同意和合作。CCRC持有的数据，加上代表客户准备审查申请和案件的律师提供的数据，提供了一个独特的视角，让人们了解CCRC是如何受到最近几届政府启动的紧缩措施的影响的。CCRC直接向司法特别委员会报告，并在这些报告中提出了对削减法律援助影响的担忧。2016年，司法特别委员会同意对这些事项进行调查，并责成人权委员会就这一主题委托进行独立研究。2016年初，CCRC发布了一项未获资助的呼吁，要求有资格的研究人员检查资金削减的影响，项目团队成功获得了CCRC独特数据集的访问权限。完整的研究计划于2017年春季达成一致。鉴于政府（2017年初）宣布对《2012年法律援助、判决和惩罚罪犯法》进行审查，这一举措尤为及时。威尔士参与了与司法部政策顾问就该审查进行的早期讨论。这项研究产生的报告将为政府、儿童权利委员会和律师提供获得重要但很少获得的材料的途径。最近法律援助政策的变化影响了向儿童权利委员会寻求案件审查的被告的代理水平。司法特别委员会最感兴趣的政策变化是《2012年法律援助量刑和惩罚罪犯法》带来的资助计划的变化，《2013年刑事法律援助（报酬）条例》规定的降低专家费用的生效，以及2014年3月推出的8.75%的费用削减。因此，该项目的首要主题是削减法律援助对向儿童权利委员会提出的申请的影响，这影响到刑事司法机构的运作方式，从而影响到民间社会的利益。我们将使用定性和定量方法来检查CCRC持有的已有数据，我们将创建有关上述变化如何影响律师行为的数据。我们将利用这些数据来审查儿童权利委员会收到的申请数量的波动，以及收到的申请的质量。我们会研究是否有可能找出提交申请数目的趋势；这些趋势是否反映法律援助条文的变化；以及是否有可能发现所提交申请的准备工作质量有变化。这项研究将为诉诸司法方面的政策发展提供信息，并将为儿童权利委员会提供有关其程序的指导，以便他们能够以最有效和最有效的方式为申请人运作。它还将为越来越多的关于诉诸司法的文献提供补充，将为律师提供信息，使他们能够确保尽可能有效地为客户服务，并将在向儿童权利委员会提出申请时告知申请人及其家属法律援助的运作方式。

Since 1997 the CCRC has been the only independent reviewer of potential miscarriages of justice. It is an institution of crucial importance in the criminal justice process, as it acts to scrutinise the decisions, and decision making processes, of our criminal courts. Its ability to independently scrutinise such decisions increases legitimacy, accuracy and public confidence in the criminal justice system. However, the data held by the CCRC is difficult to access, requiring the consent and co-operation of the department, and the Ministry of Justice. Data held by the CCRC, coupled with data available from lawyers who prepare applications for review and cases on behalf of clients, offers a unique insight into how the CCRC has been affected by austerity measures initiated by recent governments. The CCRC reports directly to the Justice Select Committee, and raised concerns about the impact of legal aid cuts as part of those reports. In 2016, the Justice Select Committee agreed that such matters should be investigated, and tasked the CCRC with commissioning independent research on this subject. The CCRC released an unfunded call for suitably qualified researchers to examine the impact of funding cuts in early 2016, and the project team successfully secured access to the CCRC's unique data set as a result of that competitive tender. The full research proposal was agreed in spring 2017. This is particularly timely in light of the government's announcement (in early 2017) to conduct a review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Welsh has been involved in early discussions with Ministry of Justice policy advisers about that review. The reports produced by this study will provide the government, the CCRC and lawyers with access to important though rarely accessible material. Recent changes to legal aid policy have affected the levels of representation available to defendants who seek case review with the CCRC. The policy changes that the Justice Select Committee is most interested in are changes in the funding scheme brought about by the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, the coming into force of reduced expert fees under the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 and the 8.75% fee cut introduced in March 2014. The overarching theme of the project is, therefore, the impact of legal aid cuts on applications made to the CCRC, which influences the way that the institutions of criminal justice operate and, therefore, influences the interests of civil society. We will use both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine pre-existing data held by the CCRC, and we will create data about how the changes detailed above have influenced lawyer behaviour. We will use that data to examine fluctuations in the volume of applications received by the CCRC, and on the quality of applications that are being received. We will examine whether it is possible to identify trends in the number of applications being submitted; whether such trends reflect changes in legal aid provision; and whether it is possible to detect a change in the quality of the preparation of applications which are submitted.The research will inform policy developments in access to justice, and will provide the CCRC with guidance about their processes so that they are able to operate in the most effective and efficient way for applicants. It will also add to a growing body of literature on access to justice, will provide lawyers with information that will enable them to ensure they are operating as effectively as possible for their clients and will inform applicants and their families about the way that legal aid operates when making applications to the CCRC.