Compensation: Assessment of Damages for Wrongful Conviction
| Date | 01 April 2005 |
| Published date | 01 April 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1350/jcla.69.2.117.63526 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Compensation: Assessment of Damages for Wrongful
Conviction
Independent Assessor v O'Brien, Hickey and Hickey [2004]
EWCA Civ 1035
The three claimants had successfully applied to the Home Office under
s. 133 of Criminal Justice Act 1988, which provides compensation to
applicants who have suffered a miscarriage of justice as a result of being
wrongfully convicted of a criminal offence.
The Independent Assessor appealed against the High Court decision
relating to the assessment (see [2003] EWHC 855 (Admin), (2003) 67
JCL 372) in regard to three issues:
1. whether the independent assessor should have set out a more
detailed breakdown of his award for non-pecuniary loss;
2. whether he should have been more explicit about the award for
aggravating features in the case;
3. whether he should have deducted from the awards an amount
covering what the claimants would have spent on the necessities
of life had they been at liberty.
Vincent and Michael Hickey cross appealed on two issues:
1. whether deductions on account of the claimants’ criminality
should be made from the whole of the non-pecuniary aspect;
2. the inconsistency between the amounts awarded by different in-
dependent assessors to the three claimants who were involved in
the same miscarriage of justice.
H
ELD
,
IN RELATION TO THE CLAIMS
:
1. The independent assessor should apply principles for the assess-
ment of damages at common law whenever such principles are
clear and capable of application by analogy. Where the facts do not
permit such analogy, the assessor should say so and explain why.
In regard to how the claim is determined, as much information as
the facts and make up of the claim permit should be provided to
the claimant.
2. In line with a recent shift, in part prompted by Article 6 of the
European Convention on Human Rights, judicial and quasi-
judicial bodies need to give more by way of reasons for their
decisions than they formerly did. A more reasoned decision would
promote consistency; would focus the assessor’s mind; would
enable the claimant to see which parts of the claim had been
accepted or rejected; and would allow the claimant to determine
whether he had grounds to challenge the assessment.
3. The assessor deducted 25 per cent from the award for past loss of
earnings for living expenses that would have been incurred had
the claimants not been in prison. This amount covered ‘necessary’
costs of living that would have been incurred. As these costs had
Compensation: Assessment of Damages for Wrongful Conviction
117
To continue reading
Request your trial