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Strasbourg rules that the retention and disclosure of caution data is unlawful (in Northern Ireland)
November 15, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article first appeared on the Daily Telegraph website (here) on 13th november 2012 European court ruling could see minor criminal records withheld from employers People with minor criminal records may not have them disclosed to potential employers in future after the European Court of Human Rights condemned the lack of scope for discretion in [...]
Lord McAlpine sets the record straight
November 12, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Tory peer Lord McAlpine today described reports linking him to the North Wales child abuse allegations as “wholly false and seriously defamatory”. In the following statement, he said had decided “I must publicly tackle these slurs and set the record straight”. “Over the last several days it has become apparent to me that a number [...]
New: Media release. “Witchhunt’ claims against Bryn Estyn false, say care workers.
November 7, 2012 from 3 Comments
Innocent care workers at the Bryn Estyn children’s home in North Wales have responded to the latest allegations and the new inquiries. Speaking on behalf of Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers, solicitor Chris Saltrese, who represented falsely accused Bryn Estyn staff at the Waterhouse Tribunal said: “There is no truth in the allegations that Jimmy [...]
The Dangers of False Allegations – keynote speech by Mark Newby at the Richard Webster Memorial Lecture
November 7, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Mark Newby’s excellent keynote speech ‘The dangers of false allegations’ given at the Richard Webster Memorial Lecture can be found here. Note: This is a particularly apposite given subsequent claims that the inquiry into alleged abuse in North Wales conducted by Sir Ronald Waterhouse (as he then was) was not adequate.
Submission to the Leveson Inquiry 2012
November 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
FACT’s submission to the Leveson Inquiry can now be accessed on the FACT website here
High Court clarifies law relating to so called ‘Sarah’s Law”
October 25, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item first appeared on the 11kBW website here Disclosure of sex offender information – new high court judgment October 24th, 2012 The High Court has today handed down an important judgment on the legality of the Government’s Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSOD): X(South Yorkshire) v Secretary of State for the Home Department[2012] EWHC 2954 [...]
FACT comments on the Jimmy Savile case
October 22, 2012 from Leave a Comment
There is no doubt that the Sir Jimmy Savile affair is both shocking and disturbing. The truth however is that none of us know whether, or not, the allegations made against him are indeed all true, partly true/untrue or wholly untrue. If they are true (in whole or in part) they represent a major betrayal [...]
Next meeting of the national committee
October 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The national committee next meeting will take place in Birmingham on Saturday 27th October. Full details are available from the secretary
Richard Webster Memorial Lecture
October 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Richard Webster Memorial Lecture which was held at Glyndwr University in Wrexham on Saturday 13th October, 2o12 was a great success. A full report of the day appears in the October edition of FACTion
Legal Ombudsman says clients should not be afraid to complain about lawyers
October 18, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Legal Ombudsman has published a report which says clients should not be afraid to complain about lawyers Consumer experiences of complaint handling in the legal services market – August 2012 The research was divided into two parts. The first looked at the attitudes and experiences of first-tier complainants (people whose complaint was dealt with by the lawyer [...]
United Against Injustice’s 11th National Miscarriage of Justice Day
October 3, 2012 from 1 Comment
The United Against Injustice’s 11th National Miscarriage of Justice Day is to be held on Saturday 13th October 2012 between 10am – 5pm at St George’s Lecture Theatre, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 4DT Programme: 10.00 doors open 10.30 Workshop 1: Disclosure and documents, led by Dr Andrew Green and Kevin McMahon 11.15 break 11.30 – 12.30 [...]
Drastic changes to defence costs orders in criminal cases come into force on 1st October 2012
October 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Drastic changes to defence costs orders in criminal cases come into force on 1st October 2012 If you have been falsely accused of a crime, you normally pay for your own defence and (hopefully) you win your case. If you lose then you may have to pay some, or all of the prosecution costs. Most [...]
Anonymity rules comes into force
October 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Members of the public, the media and the police are to be banned from next automatically naming teachers in cases of alleged abuse. The power, enshrined in the 2011 Education Act, has been introduced to protect innocent teachers against malicious claims from pupils and parents, but critics fear that the legislation has gone too far and [...]
Prison and Probation Ombudsmen for England Annual Report 2011-2012
October 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Prison and Probation Ombudsmen for England has presented his Annual Report 2011-2012, Cm 8429 (PDF which can be found here )
Home Office publish report into why a man was wrongly accused of rape following DNA error
September 20, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Home Office have published a report (here) by the Forensic Regulator into the circumstances of a complaint received from the Greater Manchester Police on 7 March 2012 regarding DNA evidence provided by LGC Forensics. The report concludes: that a man was the innocent victim of avoidable contamination from an unrelated case that did contain his DNA. the contamination [...]
Recent FACT AGM and Conference
September 18, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The FACT conference and AGM was held on the 8th September. We are grateful to all those who attended and to our speakers. Thankyou. At the AGM a new committee and a new treasurer were elected. In addition several people offered to be co-opted to the committee. Speaking after the AGM the outgoing Chairman said [...]
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) has referred the conviction of Wullie Beck back to the Scottish High Court.
September 14, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) has referred the conviction of Wullie Beck back to the Scottish High Court. The conviction is not yet queshed but this is an important milestone in his quest for justice for himself and his family. Wullie Beck was convicted of armed robbery more than 30 years ago. The [...]
Web site – update in progress
September 13, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The FACT web site is being redeveloped. You will notice some changes to content and layout. Please bear with us while these changes are made.
Police orchestrated a cover-up over their role in the Hillsborough football stadium disaster
September 13, 2012 from Leave a Comment
David Cameron today told the Commons that police orchestrated a cover-up over their role in the Hillsborough football stadium disaster, in which 96 people died, and there was a campaign to smear the dead. This is his statement in full Today the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Reverend James Jones, is publishing the report of [...]
Fear of litigation is damaging to the professionalism of doctors, nurses and teachers
September 12, 2012 from 1 Comment
This excerpt has been extracted from the Centre for Policies Studies website New research highlights damaging financial and social cost of ‘litigation culture’ on health and education. New research by Professor Frank Furedi highlights the high financial and social cost of today’s ‘culture of litigation’ on health and education services. The Social Cost of Litigation, by [...]
University of Derby establish a Miscarriage of Justice Team
September 6, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The University of Derby has set up Miscarriage of Justice Team MOJ@UOD . Its Director is Julia Giaramita’s who has academic experience of working in Law, Criminology and Forensic Science. MOJ@UOD Aims Review claims of wrongful convictions due to errors of fact, as a consequence of for example: Inefficient investigations. Non-disclosure of evidence. Misleading expert evidence. False [...]