WE ARE A MAGAZINE ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE | AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO
February 07 2025
WE ARE A MAGAZINE ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE | AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO

MPs call for parliamentary scrutiny of appointment of new CCRC chair

MPs call for parliamentary scrutiny of appointment of new CCRC chair

Image from 'More Rough Justice' by Peter Hill, Martin Young and Tom Sargant, 1985

MPs have called for parliamentary scrutiny of the appointment of chair to the troubled miscarriage of justice watchdog. As reported earlier this month, Helen Pitcher finally stepped down as chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) complaining that she had been scapegoated. MPs also want to revisit her position as chair of the body that appoints judges.

Yesterday, Andy Slaughter MP, chair of the influential House of Commons’ justice committee and a member of the APPG on miscarriages of justice, wrote to the Lord Chancellor to make a formal request to approve the role arguing that the absence of this requirement was ‘anomalous’. ‘Given the circumstances of Ms Pitcher’s resignation, action must be taken to rebuild the reputation of the cc RC and repair some of the damage to public trust in the organization that has been done during Ms Pittcher’s time as chair.’

  • You can read JG editor on Helen Pitcher’s ‘graceless exit’ in this month edition of Legal Action here.


The justice committee under the chairman of Sir Bob Neil was criticized for rubberstamping the appointment of Helen Pitcher as chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission on the Justice Gap. In an open letter, Dr Hannah Quirk, a reader in criminal law at Kings College London and JG editor Jon Robins wrote of their disappointment in the MPs’  failure to recognise what they argued was a clear conflict of interest.

‘Ms Pitcher told the Justice Select Committee that she did not perceive any “any overlap at all, or any potential conflict” between this role and her existing position as they were “of a very different nature.” We disagree. The roles are different, and that should be a source of tension. … campaigners, lawyers, academics and Parliamentarians have complained that the CCRC has taken an overly cautious, deferential approach towards referring cases back to the Court of Appeal. Almost every case the CCRC deals with will already have been rejected by the Court of Appeal, but the Lord Chief Justice sat on the panel to choose the JAC Chair, and she in turn will help choose his successor when he retires in September. High Court judges may also hear applications for judicial review of the CCRC’s work.’
Hannah Quirk and Jon Robins

In yesterday’s letter, Andy Slaughter writes: ‘Given your conclusion that Ms PItcher was unfit to chair the CCRC, it would seem inconsistent for questions not to be raised about her fitness to continue as chair of the JAC. Please could you provide us with an update as to what discussions, if any, there have been regarding Ms Pitcher’s chairing of the JAC?’

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