Leter to local media - Miss-carriages of justice - March 2015 - Printable Version +- LIBERAL TALK (http://talk.liberal.org.uk) +--- Thread: Leter to local media - Miss-carriages of justice - March 2015 (/showthread.php?tid=53) |
Leter to local media - Miss-carriages of justice - March 2015 - ReadingLib - 03-27-2016 I noted with some sadness the latest media reports on the continued quest for compensation by Barry George, who having served 7 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, has yet to see a penny of compensation, let alone a public apology for his ordeal. He, along with 3 other men also seeking similar compensation, recently staged a peaceful protest outside a global law summit which took place in central London, and which the current Prime Minister David Cameron attended. These 4 men are  not unreasonably seeking compensation for their imprisonment, after they have been freed under the pretext of a miss-carriage of justice. Instead over the years, what the High court  and successive governments have done has been to put up further re-interpretation's of the definition of a miss-carriage of justice. This has had the desired effect of rising of the bar to those seeking compensation by restricting the grounds on which a claim can be based, and creating further obstacles to those seeking redress. Liberals believe this goes against natural justice, but simply reflects the casual discrimination in this country against people who's convictions have been over-turned, and where in the past people have routinely had the cost of their meals in prison deducted from their compensation after they have been freed. Of cause there needs to be checks and balances in the system when deciding compensation, but to deny it to somebody who has been cleared of an offence and can no longer be seen as a suspects is plainly wrong. Telling somebody, as Barry George has been, that they are not innocent enough to receive compensation, is not just a mockery of justice, it is plainly insulting and wrong. |