Criminal Cases Review Commission: Legal Aid and Legal Representatives

自1997年以来，中国证监会一直是对潜在司法不公进行独立审查的唯一机构。在刑事司法程序中，它是一个极其重要的机构，因为它负责审查我们刑事法院的决定和决策过程。它能够独立审查此类决定，提高了合法性、准确性和公众对刑事司法系统的信心。然而，中国证监会掌握的数据很难获取，需要得到该部门和司法部的同意和合作。中国证监会掌握的数据，再加上为客户准备复审申请和案件的律师提供的数据，为我们提供了一个独特的视角，了解中国证监会如何受到最近几届政府发起的紧缩措施的影响。中国证监会直接向司法专责委员会报告，并在这些报告中提出了对削减法律援助的影响的担忧。2016年，司法专责委员会同意应对此类事件进行调查，并委托中国证监会就此问题进行独立研究。中国证监会在2016年初发布了一份资金不足的呼吁，要求有适当资质的研究人员检查削减资金的影响，项目团队成功地获得了中国证监会独特的数据集，这是那场竞争性招标的结果。完整的研究提案于2017年春季达成一致。鉴于政府宣布(2017年初)对2012年《法律援助、量刑和惩罚法》进行审查，这一举措尤其及时。威尔士一直在参与与司法部政策顾问就这一审查进行的早期讨论。这项研究产生的报告将为政府、中国证监会和律师提供获取重要但很少获得的材料的机会。最近法律援助政策的变化影响了向中国证监会寻求案件复核的被告可获得的律师级别。司法专责委员会最感兴趣的政策转变，包括《2012年法律援助判刑及惩罚罪犯法令》对拨款计划带来的改变、《2013年刑事法律援助(薪酬)规例》下的专家费用下调措施的生效，以及2014年3月推出的8.75%减费措施。因此，该项目的主要主题是，削减法律援助对向中国证监会提出的申请的影响，这会影响刑事司法机构的运作方式，从而影响民间社会的利益。我们将使用定性和定量的方法来审查中国证监会已有的数据，并创建关于上述变化如何影响律师行为的数据。我们将使用这些数据来检查中国商监会收到的申请量的波动情况，以及正在收到的申请的质量。我们会研究可否找出申请数目的趋势；这些趋势是否反映提供法律援助服务的改变；以及可否察觉所提交申请的拟备工作的质素有何改变。这项研究将会为诉诸司法方面的政策发展提供资料，并会就有关程序向中国证监会提供指引，使他们能够以最有效和最有效率的方式运作。它还将增加越来越多的关于诉诸司法的文献，将为律师提供信息，使他们能够确保他们为客户尽可能有效地开展业务，并将在向中国证监会提出申请时告知申请人及其家人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.