MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

        Throughout history, the fallibility of justice has harmed some innocent people. There is an important concept concerning the issue; it is called ‘’miscarriage of justice’’. Miscarriage of justice can be defined as a failure of justice. Due to miscarriage of justice, an innocent person is found guilty and a wrongful conviction is not overturned for several years, until after the innocent person has been executed, released from custody, or has died. Therefore, there remains some disagreement as to whether the current judicial systems in the world are enough. It is an undeniable fact that miscarriage of justice has disastrous effects on people’s lives. As regards the causes of this, it can be said that it is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that confirmation bias on the part of the investigators is important in this issue. It is obvious that man is a mortal entity and people can make a wrong decision but this decision affects other people’s life adversely. Some events concerning miscarriage of justice in the well-known documentaries can be shown as the best instance of this; although some people are not guilty, they had stayed in  the prison for a long time. It is clear that time is indispensable for humanity due to the fact that it is impossible to compensate. It is clear that acting regardless of/ disregarding the criminal standard of proof is not right but confirmation bias leads to some negative consequences such as wrongful conviction.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: the withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or the prosecution causes miscarriage of justice. It is obvious that forensic science is an important factor during the prosecution process so forensic evidence is important to prove somebody’s innocence. Therefore, governments or officials should take precautions to prevent these situations, otherwise, some innocent people are found guilty and they can pass away or waste the best years of their life behind bars before their innocence is proved. Due to these reasons, these improper/negative situations cause miscarriage of justice.

                To summarize, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that miscarriage of justice is related to confirmation bias on the part of the investigators and withholding, destruction, manipulation, or fabrication of evidence by the police or prosecution.

KUBİLAY ESER