Mendham, Katrina (2022) Convicting the Innocent? An Analysis of the Causes of Miscarriages of Justice in Ireland 1993-2022. Masters thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to develop a deeper understanding of miscarriages of justice in Ireland. Through an analysis of successful appeals under the miscarriage of justice provisions, namely s.2 and s.9 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993, the causes of injustices were revealed. These include forensic/medical errors and eyewitness errors intermittently, and police misconduct manifesting in a number of forms. A further goal of this research was to illustrate the impact that the case law has had on the causes and frequency of miscarriages of justice since court judgements increasingly began to emphasise the importance of electronically recording interviews in police custody. Given the dearth of research in this area of study in Ireland, the research adopted a qualitative research approach given its core principle of being capable of generating theory. Documentary analysis was chosen as the preferred qualitative research method and data was collected from documentary evidence in the form of publicly available case judgements. The research undertook a thematic analysis of documentary data and adopted an interpretative standpoint and primarily inductive approach to this thematic analysis. Thus the themes that emerged within this study are primarily data driven, though an element of deductive analysis on the basis the research was guided by a number of research questions and hypothesis’ is true. Following a discussion on the contemporary causes of miscarriages of justice relating to police misconduct regarding witnesses and disclosing evidence, the research effectively demonstrates that miscarriages of justice in Ireland are not isolated or rare events, but arise from systemic defects that have been precisely identified by this dissertation and can be addressed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Additional Information:	A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Keywords:	Convicting; Innocent; Analysis; Causes of Miscarriages of Justice; Ireland; 1993-2022; Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Law
Item ID:	19054
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	15 Oct 2024 13:54
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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