Historic allegations and the right to fair trial
17/09/2008
As the media frenzy surrounding the Jersey care home investigation continues, Mark Barlow outlines the challenges of representing defendants against historic allegations in this months' Independent Lawyer (September 2008).
Extracts from the article:
"Allegations of past sexual abuse create enormous challenges for everyone involved within the criminal justice process. The sensational media reporting of the Haut de la Garenne children's home investigation in Jersey is reminiscent of that surrounding the North Wales inquiry and the resulting police operations in Cheshire and Liverpool in the 1990s....
...The very nature of the subject matter, the abuse of children, produces the natural desire of bringing to justice the perpetrators of such vile crimes with little thought to the protection of the innocent...
...Two important care home cases, R v Burke and R v Anver Sheikh , represent an important benchmark in preserving the individual's right to a fair trial and acknowledge the inherent prejudices that exist in such cases..."
For more details about this article please contact Helen Ray on 0161 236 1840.
