Book Review: Michael Naughton
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895808092478 |
| Author | Dennis Eady |
| Date | 01 May 2008 |
| Published date | 01 May 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
227
Michael Naughton
Re-Thinking Miscarriages of Justice: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg
Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. 248 pp. £48.00 ISBN–10: 0230019064;
ISBN–13: 978–0230019065
•Reviewed by Dennis Eady, Cardiff University, UK
Michael Naughton’s analysis succeeds in identifying a new and relevant
perspective that challenges some of the assumptions made by different
groups within society about miscarriages of justice. The author’s aims are
to identify the distinction between ‘popular’ views (public and political) and
criminal justice system views about how miscarriages of justice are defined,
and in so doing to map a new terrain for this field of enquiry. Additionally
to give a better depiction of the scale of miscarriages of justice and the asso-
ciated harms that result and ‘perhaps most significantly’ to examine the
relations of power and negotiated interplay between the Government and
the governed that impact on the issue.
One of the most significant misleading assumptions, it is argued, has
been the focus on high profile ‘exceptional’ miscarriages usually involving
long campaigns and more than one appeal. Looking at Criminal Cases
Review Commission figures it is suggested that this amounts to around
18 cases a year. If however the ‘official iceberg’ including all successful
appeals is used, including ‘mundane’ appeals from magistrates’ courts and
‘routine’ first appeals from Crown Courts, the total average figure of 4773
is closer to 18 per working day. This need to focus on the true scale of the
problem in terms of numbers and the amount of consequent harm is a key
theme of the book.
From a theoretical angle the book uses Foucault’s notions of ‘Govern-
mentality’ to describe how in this field, as in others, the process of govern-
ing and the construction of reality, policy and system change is a negotiated
struggle between various parties—a feature of ‘due process democracies’ as
opposed to ‘sovereign’ states where the governing authority is dominant.
Major events (in this case specific high profile cases of injustice) are iden-
tified as crucial to promoting discourse and therefore power and influence,
hence leading to potential change such as the foundation of the Court of
Appeal, the abolition of capital punishment, the Police and Criminal
Evidence Act (PACE) and Royal Commissions. Such events enhance the
power of alternative perspectives (subjugated discourses) at certain crucial
Criminology & Criminal Justice
© 2008 SAGE Publications
(Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore)
and the British Society of Criminology.
www.sagepublications.com
ISSN 1748–8958; Vol: 8(2): 227–233
DOI: 10.1177/1748895808092478
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