The Right to Access DNA Testing by Alleged Innocent Victims of Wrongful Convictions in the United Kingdom?

Abstract

This article identifies two distinct cases of alleged wrongful conviction that were investigated by the University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP) where the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the official body that deals with alleged miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has failed to utilise DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA) testing that may exonerate the applicant: a case where numerous crime scene exhibits exist that has never been subjected to any DNA testing; and a case that has not been subjected to the full range of DNA tests that could be conducted to validate the applicant's claim of factual innocence. It draws from the right to share the benefits of scientific advancements contained in the International Bill of Rights to argue that access to official DNA testing for alleged innocent victims of wrongful convictions is vital to determine the reliability of contested convictions in the UK. From this perspective, the CCRC can be conceived to have denied the applicants in the cases cited the opportunity to prove their innocence. It is concluded that the interests of justice require that all attempts must be made to ensure the reliability of criminal convictions, meaning in this context that convicted persons maintaining innocence must have access to the most appropriate and up-to-date DNA techniques that could help exonerate them if they are innocent and even lead to the conviction of the real perpetrators of the crimes that they were convicted of.