The justice committee has called for a “root and branch” reform of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and called for its chief executive to step down.
A report from the cross-party panel of MPs found CCRC’s leadership “has shown a remarkable inability to learn from its own mistakes” after serious failures in its handling of the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson, who was wrongly jailed for 17 years for rape.
It comes after Peter Sullivan last week had his murder conviction overturned after 38 years in prison, in what is thought to be longest running miscarriage of justice in recent history.
Chairman Andy Slaughter said the position of the watchdog’s chief executive, Karen Kneller, was “untenable” after she gave “unpersuasive evidence” over the handling of Mr Malkinson’s case to the committee on 29 April.
Her account was later challenged by Chris Kenley KC, the author of a damning report which identified a “catalogue of failures” in their handling of the case and found Mr Malkinson could have been exonerated a decade earlier.
Former chairwoman of the CCRC, Helen Pitcher, eventually resigned from the role in January following Mr Malkinson’s case, but claimed she had been scapegoated.
Before her resignation, she had apologised to Mr Malkinson in April 2024, nine months after his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in July 2023.
In a report published on Friday, committee chairman Andy Slaughter said: “As a result of our concerns regarding the performance of the CCRC and the unpersuasive evidence Karen Kneller provided to the committee, we no longer feel that it is tenable for her to continue as chief executive of the CCRC.
“There is clear evidence in our report that the situation for the CCRC has deteriorated significantly and it now requires root and branch reform.”
The chairman also accused the leadership team of showing a “remarkable inability” to learn from its own mistakes, and that the CCRC failed to respond adequately to Mr Malkinson’s acquittal and to the publication of Mr Henley’s independent review.
Mr Slaughter added that the committee received comments from Mr Henley and Chris Webb, who was employed by the CCRC as an independent communications consultant, “to the effect that she had misled the committee” following the April meeting.
“Without making a finding on whether the committee had been misled and giving Ms Kneller an opportunity to comment on the allegations, the committee nonetheless found the manner in which she gave evidence a further indicator of her unsuitability to continue to lead the CCRC,” he said.
“The information provided since the session establishes that Karen Kneller omitted important information that would have provided a more accurate account of how the CCRC handled the Henley report.”
The committee’s report concluded that Mr Henley’s assessment on the work the CCRC had done was “damning”, and while it was focused on Mr Malkinson’s case it should have been taken as evidence of systemic problems within the CCRC.
It also said the body had been without an interim chair since Ms Pitcher’s resignation for four months, which is an “unacceptably long period of time”, particularly given the “turbulent” period.
Mr Slaughter added that the Ministry of Justice should take a degree of responsibility for not putting a plan in place for a replacement.
Responding to the report, a CCRC spokesperson said: “We note the recommendations in the Justice Select Committee report and the committee’s view that its findings should ‘inform the approach of the next chair of the CCRC’ in reviewing how we operate.
“We look forward to an announcement on the appointment of an interim chair and to working with them in an organisation deeply committed to finding, investigating and referring potential miscarriages of justice.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Miscarriages of justice can have a devastating impact. It is vital the public have confidence in the organisation dedicated to uncovering wrongful convictions.
“The lord chancellor will imminently announce the appointment to provide strong leadership to the CCRC and conduct a full and thorough review of how the organisation operates, including an assessment of its leadership.”
