Wrongly-convicted no longer face being ‘charged’ for saved living expenses
Wrongly convicted people will no longer face having “saved living costs” deducted from compensation payments following an update to guidance made today (Sunday 6 August).
- miscarriage of justice compensation guidance on “saved living expenses” scrapped
- guidance changed with immediate effect
- “common sense” change to make system fairer for victims of miscarriages of justice
Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk has taken decisive action to inject greater fairness into how payout decisions for miscarriages of justice are made, ending the possibility that people can be ‘charged’ for saved living costs.
This element of the guidance was added in 2006 and will be removed with immediate effect, applying to all future payments made under the miscarriage of justice compensation scheme.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk KC, said:
Fairness is a core pillar of our justice system and it is not right that victims of devastating miscarriages of justice can have deductions made for saved living expenses.
This common sense change will ensure victims do not face paying twice for crimes they did not commit.
The miscarriage of justice compensation scheme is designed to help individuals restart and rebuild their lives. It is just one route in which an individual can receive compensation for a wrongful conviction, with other options including suing public bodies.
In order to be eligible for a payment under the scheme individuals must:
- Apply within 2 years of being pardoned or having their conviction reversed as a result of a newly discovered fact
- Have had their conviction reversed on the basis of a new fact which demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt they did not commit the offence
- Not be responsible for the non-disclosure of the new fact
Once eligible, the level of compensation is decided by an independent assessor. An award of compensation will normally fall into 2 parts:
- Compensation for the impact of the wrongful conviction on an individual, including damage to their reputation or to their physical or mental health, loss of freedom and inconvenience
- Loss of past or future earnings, expenses or legal costs resulting from their time in custody
Under previous guidance, the independent assessor could make a deduction from loss of past earnings based on “saved living expenses” such as rent or mortgage payments which were not incurred during their time in prison.
The maximum amount of compensation payable under the miscarriage of justice system is £1 million for 10 or more years imprisonment or £500,000 for up to 10 years.
Notes to editors
- Decisions on whether a case is eligible for compensation is determined by the Justice Secretary or those he delegates the decision to
- The independent assessor must normally be a person with a 7-year general legal qualification or has held a judicial office in any part of the UK
- While the previous guidance included the option for saved living expenses to be deducted from compensation payouts this has not been used in over 10 years