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MPs Demand Resignation of CCRC Chief Over Leadership Failures

The Justice Committee's report highlights systemic issues, including delays in addressing miscarriages of justice and inadequate responses to public criticisms.

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Overview

  • The House of Commons Justice Committee has declared Karen Kneller's position as chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) untenable, urging her resignation.
  • The committee criticized Kneller's evidence on the CCRC's challenges and her handling of public criticisms as unpersuasive and incomplete.
  • A review by Chris Henley KC revealed that Andrew Malkinson's release could have been secured a decade earlier if the CCRC had acted on DNA evidence in 2009.
  • The report condemned the CCRC's delay in publishing the Henley review and attempts to minimize reputational damage as a 'spectacular failure of leadership.'
  • The Justice Committee called for root-and-branch reform of the CCRC, citing issues such as the prolonged vacancy of a chair, understaffing, and reliance on a fully remote working model.