We are a new charity set up in June 2023 to promote a criminal justice system that prevents miscarriages of justice and one that is willing to correct them.

We provide the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice.

Our directors include Barry Sheerman MP, chair of the APPG on Miscarriages of Justice; Glyn Maddocks KC, a leading criminal appeals specialist with more than 30 years’ experience; Dr Jon Robins, journalist and criminology lecturer at Brighton University; and Sue James, chief executive of the Legal Action Group.

The aim of the Future Justice Project is to discuss, debate and agree upon evidence-based policy recommendations that would:

• assist the prevention of wrongful convictions and their correction
• raise the profile of issues relating to miscarriages of justice including informing the public, the media and policy-makers,
  challenge conventional wisdom, and
• contribute towards the improved functioning of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

The work of the FJP is organised through five committees:

• Science and the Courts committee 
• Legal Profession 
• Media committee 
• Criminal Appeals committee 
• Legal Policy committee

We are making a difference. As a result of the 2021 Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice, the former justice minister Dominic Raab authorised the Law Commission to review the criminal appeals process. Barry has proposed a private members bill to address widely shared concerns about ‘joint enterprise’ laws to appeal their convictions. In his House of Commons speech, Barry called on fellow MPs to ‘join me in fixing a major flaw in our justice system, making amends and taking a big step to guarantee the right to justice for every citizen. The law was wrong for 30 years and it is now time for us to give the courts the chance to put it right.’ 

At the end of last year, we launched the Westminster Commission on Forensic Science which is currently taking evidence and which is co-chaired by Professor Angela Gallop and Baroness Sue Black. It is looking at issues including the crisis in quality in forensic science.

FJP roundtable (Pic: Andy Aitchison. L to R: Ralph Barrington, Laurie Elks, David Jessel, Steve Heaton, Jim Nichol and Sharon Persaud).