Part XIMiscellaneous
Miscarriages of justice
133Compensation for miscarriages of justice
1
Subject to subsection (2) below, when a person has been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows beyond reasonable doubt that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the Secretary of State shall pay compensation for the miscarriage of justice to the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction or, if he is dead, to his personal representatives, unless the non-disclosure of the unknown fact was wholly or partly attributable to the person convicted.
2
No payment of compensation under this section shall be made unless an application for such compensation has been made to the Secretary of State.
3
The question whether there is a right to compensation under this section shall be determined by the Secretary of State.
4
If the Secretary of State determines that there is a right to such compensation, the amount of the compensation shall be assessed by an assessor appointed by the Secretary of State.
5
In this section “reversed” shall be construed as referring to a conviction having been quashed—
a
on an appeal out of time; or
b
on a reference—
i
under section 17 of the [1968 c. 19.] Criminal Appeal Act 1968;
ii
under section 263 of the [1975 c. 21.] Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975; or
iii
under section 14 of the [1980 c. 47.] Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1980.
6
For the purposes of this section a person suffers punishment as a result of a conviction when sentence is passed on him for the offence of which he was convicted.
7
Schedule 12 shall have effect.