The
Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent watchdog set up by the British Parliament in the late 1990s to investigate alleged wrongful convictions,
has expressed concern that hundreds of asylum seekers without legal travel documents may have been wrongly convicted because of misunderstandings or abuses of the law.
The commission said that from 2011 to 2015, it had referred 32 cases of asylum-seekers who might have been wrongly convicted of travel document offenses back to relevant appeal courts. An additional 64 cases are either under review or waiting for reviews to begin, according to the commission.
So far, convictions in the cases, which include asylum seekers from Sudan, Syria and elsewhere, have been quashed in all but two of the cases where an appeal has been heard, the commission said.
“These cases represent multiple failings of the system,” said Justin Hawkins, a spokesman for the commission.
“The individuals were wrongly advised to plead guilty by their defense lawyers,” Mr. Hawkins said. “The decisions to prosecute them was flawed, and the court system failed to spot these cases for what they are and to put a stop to the proceedings.”
For his part, Mr. Haroun, advocates said, is expected to reiterate his plea of not guilty at a November hearing on his case. His trial is scheduled for January.
