55976 (2024). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice

55976 (2024). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice: Has the minister received advice that budget cuts at the Criminal Cases Review Commission will slow down the consideration of miscarriages of justice; if so does this concern him?

Hon Paul Goldsmith: As part of the Budget 24 process, I was advised of the risk that a reduction in funding may reduce the speed with which investigations of miscarriages of justice are completed. However, this is partially mitigated by the trend of decreasing numbers of annual applications and the Commission’s utilisation of reserves to clear its backlog of cases. I am confident that the Commission will still perform its core functions in line with the Criminal Cases Review Commission Act 2019.