Introducing the Future Justice Project
The Future Justice Project is a charity that focusses on the justice system and the wrongly convicted.
We also provide the Secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Miscarriages of Justice.
The APPG was set up in November 2017 over concerns about miscarriages of justice in the context of falling numbers of referrals by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The CCRC is a public body set up in 1997 to investigate and refer alleged miscarriages of justice to the Court of Appeal. In 2017, its referral rate crashed to 0.7%.
In 2021, the APPG produced the Westminster Commission on Miscarriages of Justice which looked at the role of the CCRC, as reported in the Guardian.
Realising that the criminal appeal system was not working as intended, the APPG aimed to examine the structural problems within the criminal justice system which result in miscarriages of justice and to provide a forum from which to improve access to justice for those who have been wrongly convicted. It is currently chaired by Kim Johnson MP.
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 Sheerman 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.’
We work with individuals and public bodies to drive change in the criminal justice system and address miscarriages of justice.
Who we are
The Future Justice Project was set up by Barry Sherman MP, Dr Jon Robins, Glyn Maddocks KC, and Sue James.
Barry is the Labour (Co-op) Member of Parliament for Huddersfield and has been an MP since 1979. He has chaired parliamentary select committees, parliamentary investigations and All-Party Parliamentary Groups.
Throughout his parliamentary career, Barry has been committed to reforming our criminal justice system as well as campaigning to highlight the plight of the wrongly convicted which ultimately led to him setting up the APPG on Miscarriages of justice with Sir Bob Neill in 2017. Barry has a long history of law reform and campaigning – he was chair of the House of Commons’ Select Committee on Education and Skills (2001 to 2007) and chair of the Children, Schools and Families Committee (2007 to 2010).
Glyn is a human rights lawyer who in 2020 was made honorary King’s Counsel in recognition of his expertise in miscarriages of justice. Glyn has acted in many ground-breaking cases over the last 20 years (Tony Stock, Oliver Campbell, Paul Blackburn, Jonny Kamara). He helped set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice, the legal charity APPEAL which investigates wrongful convictions. Glyn was also a member of the Law Society’s human rights committee.
Jon is a journalist and a lecturer in criminology at Brighton University. He has written about the law and justice for the national papers including the Guardian, Observer, Times, the Independent and Independent on Sunday for over 20 years. He has written a number of books including Justice in a Time of Austerity (Bristol University Press, 2023 – with Dan Newman); and two on miscarriages of justice, Guilty Until Proven Innocent: the crisis in our justice system (Biteback, 2018) and The first miscarriage of justice: the amazing & unreported case of Tony Stock (Waterside Press, 2014).
Sue James is the CEO of the Legal Action Group. She was previously director and housing solicitor at Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre and a founding trustee at Ealing Law Centre. She won the outstanding achievement award at the 2017 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards.
Research and administrative support on the FJP is undertaken by Abdallah Barakat, pupil barrister at 9 Park Place Chambers and Ana Santos Reis.
The photographs above come from the the launch of The First Miscarriage of Justice in 2014. Glyn and Barry supported Tony Stock’s fight for justice for more than 30 years and Jon wrote the book. Sadly, Tony died on November 29, 2012. He spent 43 years fighting to clear his name – his case went to the Court of Appeal on four separate occasions and the European Court of Human Rights. It is one of two cases to have been been referred a second time by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. His flight continues and an application was sent to the CCRC in 2017.
Partners
We work closely with other organisations and individuals in the justice system. We are grateful for our supporters in Parliament: Lord Tony Woodley, Sir Bob Neil, Mr Andy Slaughter MP, and Ms Kim Johnson MP.
Launch of Guilty Until Proven Innocent book – and the first meeting of the APPG (June 25, 2018)
We are also grateful for the support of the Cardiff University Law School Innocence Project and Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA).
Contact
To get in touch with the Future Justice Project, email sam@futurejustice.org.uk.
We are grateful to be funded by the partners at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP under the leadership of Mr Jason Glover and Mr Nicholas Shaw.
