Wrongful convictions/miscarriages of justice, law as a system, and the story of the little girl

Abstract

As one of humanity’s most vital social systems, Law plays a pivotal role in being the glue which keeps society functioning. Law’s function in society is to prescribe the rules by which we can all live safe, decent, fulfilling and just lives. The way Law relates and applies to us therefore, becomes extremely important.

Wrongful Convictions/Miscarriages of Justice are very opposite to what we expect to see after Law’s processes have run their course, and they are very opposite to the achievements that we envisage for Law. Yet, they do occur - and their problematic occurrence poses certain questions for Law; chief among them, the question of how we address wrongful convictions/miscarriages of justice.

Wrongful convictions/Miscarriages of Justice occur when decision making gets locked up within extremes. Addressing wrongful convictions/miscarriages thus requires that we avoid extremes in Legal decision making. The manner in which Judges conduct Legal decision-making therefore becomes quite central in the effort to address wrongful convictions/miscarriages of justice. Middle decision-making, through the striking of a mean, is argued as most yielding in avoiding extremes, as well as most yielding in addressing the issue of wrongful convictions/miscarriages of justice.

Judges must re-train themselves to think and act in a manner which allows for Middle Legal Decision making. Judges must be flexible, abandon their default and traditional modes of Legal decision-making when necessary, take note of circumstance, pay attention to the stories of the individuals that are placed before them, and be willing to act as every set of facts exclusively demand.

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