Miscarriage of justice compensation applications and payments made: FOI release

Information requested

1. For the period from 2000 to the most recent year available, the total number of applications received for compensation under both the statutory scheme (section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988) and the ex gratia scheme, provided in groupings that are large enough to avoid identification concerns (e.g. five-year bands: 2000-04, 2005-09, 2010-14, 2015-19, 2020-24).

2. For the same periods, the total number of applications found eligible, refused, withdrawn or still under assessment.

3. The total compensation paid in each of those same periods under each scheme.

4. The total number of exonerees who have received compensation since 2000.

Response

The answers to your questions are:

Question one

While we have complete information about applications made after late 2005, we are not able to confirm that information that we hold about the number of applications received before late 2005 is complete as we consider it is possible that information about some unsuccessful applications may no longer be held by the Scottish Government.

Within this caveat, the total number of applications received in the following 5-year bands is as follows:

2000 to 2004 – 11 applications
2005 to 2009 – 28 Applications
2010 to 2014 – 23 applications
2015 to 2019 – 23 applications
2020 to 2024 – 22 applications

Questions 2 and 4

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information that you have requested.

This is because it is personal information about people who have received compensation for a miscarriage of justice and the amount paid in compensation to to them.

While you have not requested information about the names of the individuals, and have requested it in five year bands, it is considered that, because of the small number of people to whom compensation has been paid in some of the five year periods in respect of which you have requested this information, there is a significant risk that information about the amounts paid to individuals could be identified from information about the amount paid in compensation and the period during which that payment was made to them. In reaching this decision, regard has been had to information already in the public domain as a result of previous FOI requests. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

However, I can provide you with the following information about the total number of applications received during the period 2000-2024:

Total number of applications received: 107
Total number found eligible for compensation: 21
Total number found not eligible for compensation: 67
Total number abandoned/withdrawn by applicant: 12
Total number still under assessment: 7

For the purposes of this FoI request, we have interpreted an application as having been “withdrawn” to include any case where:

• an applicant has explicitly withdrawn their application,
• an application has in effect been abandoned as requests were made to the applicant for further information about their application and the applicant did not respond to those requests
• the applicant has died and no close member of their family has proceeded with the application

We have taken the meaning of “under assessment” to include those cases where the application was initially refused and the applicant has sought a review of that decision.

As set out in response to question 2, the total number of successful applicants for compensation during in this period is 21. It should be noted that while you have asked about ‘exonerees’, the scope of the ex gratia scheme is such that it can also cover applicants who have spent a period of time in custody following wrongful charge, but who were never convicted of a criminal offence.

Question 3: The total amount of compensation paid out in the following 5-year bands

Years 2000 to 2004 - £813,350.00
Years 2005 to 2009 - £6,251,784.66
Years 2010 to 2014 - £4,345,605.95
Years 2015 to 2019 - £1,156,259.00
Years 2020 to 2024 - £1,945, 008.35

This information is recorded by reference to the financial year in which the payment was made, rather than the calendar year as this is how the information is recorded on our systems.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.