The Narrow Road to Exoneration - the Incidence, Characteristics and Outcomes of Wrongful Conviction Claims in Sweden over a One-Year Period

Sara Hellqvist

doi:10.15845/bjclcj.v5i2.1461

Abstract

One way of investigating the phenomenon of wrongful convictions is to study the road to exoneration. In some respects, the post-conviction review process lies at the heart of the wrongful conviction issue, since this is where alleged miscarriages of justice are either acknowledged or rejected. However, the number and characteristics of the criminal cases that pass through the Swedish post-conviction review process are unknown. Against this background, the overarching objective of the present article is to provide an empirical basis for an informed discussion of wrongful convictions. More specifically, this article examines wrongful conviction claims and the judicial outcomes of these claims over a one-year period. The findings are discussed in relation to the view that the operation of the post-conviction process may be understood as a means by which the legal system may preserve its legitimacy. It is also discussed why there is a need for more transparency in this particular part of the criminal justice system.

Highlights

1.1 Wrongful Convictions and the Road to ExonerationWrongful convictions pose a great threat to democratic societies built on the rule of law.[1]
216 applications involving wrongful conviction claims are described in order to illustrate the general patterns found among the criminal cases passing through the post-conviction review process, from application to possible exoneration
One way to improve our understanding of wrongful convictions is to focus on the process in which they are produced in a legalistic sense, i.e. the operation of the final legal safeguard

Summary

Introduction

1.1 Wrongful Convictions and the Road to ExonerationWrongful convictions pose a great threat to democratic societies built on the rule of law.[1]. 1.1 Wrongful Convictions and the Road to Exoneration. 2 Killias, Errors occur everywhere – but not at the same frequency: The role of procedural systems in wrongful convictions in Wrongful Convictions & Miscarriages of Justice, eds. The increasing emergence of public distrust in the criminal justice system, as a result of high-profile DNA exoneration cases, has been suggested to be one of the reasons for the shift away from a punitive crime policy approach in the United States.[4] Today, Anglo-American research on wrongful conviction is considered to have had extensive impact on policy reforms. Perhaps the most important effect of the growing attention to wrongful convictions is that it opens (or reopens) the door for research and debate about other imperfections in the criminal justice system.[5]

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