Rethinking innocence projects in England and Wales: lessons for the future

This article draws on original empirical research to explore the rise and fall of innocence projects across England and Wales. Innocence projects are university-based projects which seek to educate students, to assist the wrongly convicted and to contribute to research and reform within criminal justice. Thirty-six projects were established between 2004 and 2014 under Innocence Network UK, but following the network's closure, projects appear to be gradually disappearing. Drawing on empirical evidence from key actors, this article argues that the decline of innocence projects resulted from both emerging tensions within the innocence project movement itself and through the external constraints of operating within a restrictive criminal appeal system. It will conclude by rethinking how surviving projects might play a valuable role in addressing miscarriages of justice in the current climate