SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | Ministers move to stop 'safe' convictions of criminals being quashed on appeal
Once again, John Reid talks of "rebalancing in favour of the victim". Yet, like it or not, the "victim" is not part of the trial process. It is vile spin to identify the prosecution with the victim. The prosecution is there efficiently and ethically to present the evidence against an accused, just as the defence is there to present the evidence for. This dishonest phrase, so beloved by Blair, Blunkett and Reid, is code for "favouring the prosecution."
The idea of preventing an appeal court quashing a conviction "on a technicality" appeals to the man in the street. However, when he finds himself under arrest (and with one new crime a day being created, it is when not if) he might be glad to have the police work in the knowledge that, if they don't follow the proper procedures, they may be wasting their time.
I fail to see why this Government wants more convictions regardless of guilt or due process. Convicting the innocent, apart from being wrong, will exacerbate our problems with crime, by adding one more potential "winning outcome" for someone committing a crime.
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