Watchdog Demands Urgent Improvements to CCRC
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) must urgently improve its investigations to prevent a repeat of the failures seen in the Andrew Malkinson scandal, according to an independent watchdog. Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service, issued the warning after conducting an inspection of the body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice.
The CCRC has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the Malkinson case, described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Malkinson served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, and the CCRC rejected his case twice before his legal team conducted crucial DNA testing. The commission later repeated the tests, leading to his release.
Findings of the Inspection Report
The report, released on Thursday, highlighted a “lack of proactive, effective casework quality assurance” as a significant gap that the CCRC must address urgently. Inspectors examined a sample of 60 cases and made 34 recommendations to tackle weaknesses, delays, and inefficiencies.
Rogers stated that the CCRC could “improve substantially and deliver a much better service” by implementing the recommendations, but he cautioned that changes “won’t guarantee there won’t be another high-profile failure.” He emphasized the need for a focus on “quality and review of casework, better case strategy, much more monitoring of case progress, challenging unnecessary work,” to prevent cases from reaching the state of the Malkinson case.
Impact of the Malkinson Case
A review found that Malkinson could have been released 10 years earlier if the CCRC had obtained new DNA evidence as early as 2009. The real rapist, Paul Quinn, was sentenced to 21 years in prison last month. Thousands of cases are now being reviewed following the bungled handling of the Malkinson case.
The CCRC is currently dealing with 102 long-running cases and has seen a sustained rise in applications, with 1,841 made in 2025-26. Rogers described the body as having a “chequered history” and “cultural issues,” but ultimately concluded it is fit for purpose.
Cultural Issues and Recommendations
Rogers noted that staff are committed and make “sound conclusions” on cases, but they need to avoid “unnecessary lines of inquiry” and focus on probing “the right things.” He said, “There have been a number of very high-profile failures, which have led to a lot of criticism, but generally I think the CCRC, and in the cases we looked at, got the decision right eventually, and it’s the ‘eventually’ word that we are concerned about.”
He added, “I do think there are cultural issues in the organisation. Overall our judgment is they are not a failing organisation. There are quite a lot of things they need to do but ultimately they are fit for purpose.”
