Petition · past parliament · Ministry of Justice

Create a right to appeal for people convicted under law which is later reformed.

Closed 966 signatures

What the petition asks

Sometimes the law is proven to be morally wrong and is reformed. However, when this happens, people cannot appeal against their unjust convictions because they are beyond the time limit currently set within the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. We want to create a right to appeal for change of law cases.
A person must apply for permission to appeal within 28 days of conviction. Law reform is a long process, and many will have been convicted and out of time to appeal when reform is achieved. On 18th February 2016, the Supreme Court reformed the law of joint enterprise because it was held to be unjust. This law led to the conviction of thousands of people for very serious offences. Despite this, there have been very few appeals allowed.
Specifically, we want Parliament to legislate the Criminal Appeal (Amendment) Bill promoted by JENGbA - https://jeb.jointenterprise.co/

Timeline

28 Sep 2021 Petition opened for signatures
28 Mar 2022 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 966
Status Closed
Department Ministry of Justice
Opened 28 Sep 2021
Closed 28 Mar 2022

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.