Miscarriages of Justice

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Miscarriages of justice: A critical review of the reasons leading to miscarriages of justice in Pakistan as compared to the United Kingdom Incidents of miscarriages of justice in the United Kingdom date back to as far as the Court of Star Chamber which used torture as punishment and which was the worst example of abuse of power. Michael Naughten in his book “Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice” articulates the issues which are of core importance when we talk of miscarriages of justice in the United Kingdom they being the following; “false confessions, police and prosecution misconduct, forensic expert witness evidence, bad summing up by the trial judge”. However Dr Haider Shah says “This phrase is ordinarily used to refer to cases where the accused are wrongfully punished. It is, however, also used to mean the reverse, i.e. ‘errors of impunity’ situations in which victims fail to get justice and perpetrators of the crime go scot-free. In published literature, miscarriage is often attributed to the systemic bias in the judicial system. “Dr Shah further adds that unlike other judicial systems in the world Pakistan is entrenched in social norms and religious norms which determine the way individuals conduct themselves in life. This primarily reflect on the “feudal and tribal’ nature which has been the legacy of this part of the world for centuries now. Justice can only prevail if there is a set way of administering it. However the prime reason for miscarriages of justice in Pakistan is the parallel system of Jirga that determines the fate of individuals. All the reasons leading to miscarriages of justice as pointed out by Naughton are prevalent in Pakistan but they re just sub categories to the real and persistent social and religious influence which plagues the system. Criminal evidence is the crucial element to the defence of any offender –it can make or break his

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