APPEAL

APPEAL is a not-for-profit law practice dedicating to fighting wrongful convictions and demanding a fair justice system.

Its racial justice project is led by Dr Nisha Waller and aims to raise awareness and challenge discriminatory practices, advocating for change that promotes equality, fairness and redress for harms caused. They ensure that the voices of those affected by racial injustice are heard and that meaningful change is achieved.

The Baring Foundation funded APPEAL to explore relationship between between non-unanimous jury verdicts, miscarriages of justice and racial discrimination.

In May 2024 APPEAL published a report on the hidden racist and classist intent behind the 1967 introduction of majority jury verdicts in England and Wales, finding links between majority verdicts and wrongful convictions.

The principle of jury unanimity – which insists that all 12 jurors must agree before a criminal conviction can be secured – had been a hallmark of the criminal legal system for hundreds of years until then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins championed the change in 1967. This was a time of public anxiety around immigration and anti-racist activism.

Documents uncovered by APPEAL showed the policy change was at least in some part introduced based on a desire to dilute the influence of “coloured” migrants and the new “labouring class”. The narrative unfolds against concerns of a more diverse jury pool, which some commentators felt diluted the “calibre” and educational ability of jurors.

We identified dozens of high-profile wrongful convictions based on majority jury verdicts, which are set out in the report. These includes Andrew Malkinson and a patron of APPEAL Winston Trew, who was “fitted up” by a racist police officer in 1972.

At least 1,100 Crown Court convictions are by a majority jury verdict every year in England and Wales. However, rules limiting research on juries make them exempt from scrutiny. It is therefore difficult to identify the impact of majority verdicts on jury decision-making and their potential links with wrongful convictions and racial bias. APPEAL believes this needs to change.

Following a lively launch event at City of London Law University, the research was reported widely including in the Times, the Guardian and a number of local London-based newspapers. Nisha Waller appeared on the BBC World Service to discuss the findings.

You can read our full report here.

“As a young man I was convicted of assault on police and attempted theft by a majority verdict 10-2 in 1972 and imprisoned for 2 years. I was released after 8 months but spent 47 years trying to clear my name, eventually succeeding in December 2019.” 

Winston Trew, one of the “Oval 4”, a group of young black men arrested at Oval Tube station by the infamous racist police officer, Det Sgt Ridgewell.

Image: Dr Nisha Waller