UK CRIMINAL INJURY COMPENSATION

Posted by Emmy Sunshine on May 6th, 2018

Our solicitors deal with applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) in the United Kingdom. If you want expert advice from criminal injury compensation solicitors for injury caused as a result of criminal violence just call our solicitors helpline or email our offices. We offer the no win no fee scheme and our criminal injury compensation solicitors will deal with your claim for damages with the utmost care.

Prison Law

In 1979 a group of inmates who were in Hull prison at the time of the riots instructed a prison law solicitor to take legal action against the authorities for subjecting the alleged ringleaders to harsh disciplinary action by removal of remission without any legal representation. The High Court case was won on appeal and within a few years a raft of prisoner’s rights had been established, that did not previously exist, including the right to legal representation by a criminal solicitor or barrister, the right to judicial review by the House of Lords and the right for all decisions made by a prison Governor to be reviewed by the High Court. The Human Rights Act 1998 which came into effect in the UK on the 2 October 2000 has further extended prisoners’ rights.

Criminal law solicitors offer advice on a wide range of prisoners rights issues and in all cases any necessary legal action will be dealt with using legal aid. Areas of concern to specialist criminal solicitors include :-

Parole Review and Parole Refusal

 Lawyers will assist by reviewing the Parole Dossier and a prison law solicitor should make personal representations on your behalf to the Parole Board. It may be possible to challenge the Parole Boards decision by Judicial Review

Re-Categorisation and Category A Prisoners Review

Criminal lawyers will review your categorisation and assist you to be re-classified where appropriate. This is of particular importance to Category 'A' prisoners who have the least pleasant prison regime.

Release on Temporary License

A lawyer can advise and assist on temporary release applications which may take one of three forms being compassionate license, facility license and re-settlement license. All inmates are entitled to apply for a re-settlement license however it can be particularly useful to those who are serving more than 12 months but less than 4 years as they can apply for a re-settlement license after one-third of the sentence has been served which can be 4 months before the automatic conditional release date.

Judicial Review

Prisoners rights are substantially strengthened by this legal process whereby almost all decisions that affect a prisoner can be challenged in the High Court using Judicial Review. A prison law solicitor will act on behalf of any prisoner who has been unfairly treated.

Life Sentence Reviews

All those serving a life sentence have the right to an oral hearing once the original tariff period has expired. Lawyers will represent prisoners at the oral hearing and ensure that the authors of any reports that are on file are properly cross examined.

Human Rights

    The European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 provide for a prisoner to take action, in the UK courts, to claim UK criminal injury compensation for any breach of human rights.

Licence Conditions and Recall

  Any decision by the Parole Board to recall should be challenged by an experienced criminal solicitor immediately.