This book edited by Huff and Killias is an important contribution to the growing global discourse on the problem of wrongful conviction not only from the narrower perspective of the wrongful conviction of innocent people but also in regard to miscarriages of justice more broadly. Structurally, Part I of the book focuses on causes and frequency while Part II of the book turns to consequences and possible remedies to reduce or mitigate the impact of injustices. Part III concludes with Huff and Killias offering some 'take-away' messages. This book is particularly valuable to the growing international study of wrongful conviction through its consideration of issues relevant to wrongful conviction from both the adversarial and inquisitorial criminal justice systems.

Wrongful conviction is an international problem that has attracted considerable research into identifying its prevalence, causes and correlates. Australia is not void of erroneous convictions; however, the international findings do not neatly apply to the Australian context. This article considers the wrongful conviction in Australia from a wide-angle perspective of investigation through to exoneration. It considers systemic issues related to the detection, correction and consequences of wrongful conviction, identifying how and why errors may occur at different stages of the criminal justice process. The article specifically covers the investigative process and issues related to the collection and processing of physical/forensic evidence and witness evidence, post-conviction issues in the identification and correction of wrongful convictions, and the consequences of wrongful conviction for exonerated individuals in Australia.

No abstract

No abstract

In recent years, hundreds of people have been exonerated overseas after demonstrating that they were wrongly convicted of crimes for which they spent many years in prison, and these are only the ones uncovered to date. Australia has its own sampling of known wrongful convictions. England, Canada and the United States have introduced different mechanisms to address in some fashion, the facilitation of exonerations. This article considers the current situation for the wrongly convicted in Australia, placing it within this international context. This comparison will demonstrate that Australia has fallen behind these other common law countries by failing to deliver new mechanisms, establish new bodies or incorporate new avenues that would enable the correction of wrongful conviction to occur. Wrongful conviction must now be recognised as an unenviable but inevitable part of any criminal justice system and a problem that should not be tolerated. Australia's criminal justice system must meet the challenge to update its provisions rather than continue to proceed under provisions other countries have identified as failing to meet the needs of the wrongly convicted.