This book defines the differing concepts of miscarriages of justice, wrongful convictions and innocence in relation to the presumption of innocence and the rationing of justice. It compares inquisitorial systems, with examples from Europe, South America and Asia to adversarial systems. It contrasts England's focus on the miscarriage of justice and the remedial institutions of the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cases Review Commission, with the United States and China's narrower focus on proven factual innocence It highlights new laws enacted in India in 2023 that increase the risk of wrongful convictions, and details how the International Criminal Court has taken steps to reduce the risk of false guilty pleas that may have been accepted by previous international criminal courts. The book examines the roles of racist prejudice and gender stereotypes in wrongful convictions. It also examines false guilty pleas such as those in the Post Office scandal, as well as wrongful convictions for crimes that did not happen. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

‘The breadth of scholarship in this book, written with Roach’s customary clarity, takes wrongful conviction research to a new level with unparalleled comparative insights.’

Hannah Quirk - King's College London

‘With his unfailing mastery of profound analysis and sharp detail, Kent Roach reveals the contemporary fractured paths to justice and the tragic generation of miscarriages and wrongful convictions. This important work elucidates comparatively that faults constantly emerge across all types of legal systems both through unshakable societal prejudice and state abuses as well as through new phases of austere rationing and technological misapplications. The author's ability to survey the entire field offers an invaluable insight into the frailties of the sampled justice systems - not just for some, but for all, audiences.’

Clive Walker - University of Leeds

‘This is a timely, but in many ways a depressing book. It tells us of the many ways in which justice miscarries across jurisdictions, sometimes on a mass scale, and the obstacles faced by individuals as they try to challenge their wrongful conviction and obtain some form of compensation. While this is not a new story, Roach brings together an impressive breadth of material to examine multiple jurisdictions as well as highlighting features of race and gender in these cases. Rather than learning from the systemic issues that lead to these injustices, Roach documents how governments seek to narrow opportunities to challenge convictions, by re-defining what constitutes a miscarriage of justice and demanding proof of innocence - arguably something that the criminal justice system is not equipped to determine. He concludes with the hope that review commissions and Innocence movements might learn from one another through cooperation and global alliance.’

Jacqueline S. Hodgson - University of Warwick