Holistic defence
APPEAL is a charity and law practice dedicated to fighting miscarriages of justice and demanding reform. We fight the cases of individual victims of unsafe convictions and unfair sentences who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer themselves.
We are leaders in integrating quality legal representation and holistic care for those we represent in parallel with advocacy for system reform.
We believe that people with lived experience of the harms of the criminal justice system are vital in advocating for change. That is why we are developing a co-production model, placing those with lived experience at the heart of our system reform efforts.
Based on the tried and tested model of non-profit holistic law practices in the United States, we are pioneering a fresh approach to criminal defence in England and Wales.
Wrongful convictions wreak havoc on every aspect of a person’s life. That’s why, in parallel with working on their criminal cases, we support those we represent to try and rebuild their lives after suffering a miscarriage of justice - both within prison and after release. This includes helping them to access their rights and secure support to address complex physical and mental health needs. We also advocate for them in financial, housing, education and employment matters.
“APPEAL is pioneering a holistic model of defence in England: the non-profit law practice combining the work of barristers, solicitors, investigators, survivor advocates and campaigners under one roof.”
Investigate
WE SCREEN TO FIND CASES WITH MERIT AND HIGH POTENTIAL IMPACT, AND THEN DIG DEEP TO FIND THE FRESH EVIDENCE THAT PROVES A CONVICTION IS UNSAFE OR A SENTENCE IS UNFAIR
Our investigation methodology is based on that deployed in high stakes death penalty cases in the US, and includes closely analysing the existing case materials using cutting edge software, demanding access to new documents, interviewing witnesses, visiting to key locations, and working with pro bono experts to find the evidence needed to overturn wrongful convictions and unfair sentences.
We value results over throughput, and so work on behalf of a small number of people to ensure the quality of our work.
Litigate
WE BRING CASES TO THE CRIMINAL CASES REVIEW COMMISSION, THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT AND THE COURT OF APPEAL.
Our lawyers represent the victims of miscarriages of justice arising from the courts of England and Wales. As a charity, we only represent people who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer. We also litigate for open justice and increased accountability in our justice system.
We are supported in this work by the best barristers in the country, largely working pro bono who appear for the prisoners we represent in court.
Advocate
WE WORK WITH FORMER PRISONERS, CAMPAIGNERS, STUDENTS, LEGAL PROFESSIONALS, POLICY MAKERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO ENSURE OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM LEARNS FROM ITS MISTAKES.
We partner with criminal justice stakeholders on campaigns to ensure the system learns from its mistakes, including promoting open and accountable justice, robust science, effective practice and a gender responsive approach. Only with these reforms can we be assured accurate convictions and smart sentencing.
We also work with law students in universities across England and Wales, ensuring that the next generation of criminal lawyers graduate with an acute awareness of the system’s frailties and their duty as lawyers to challenge it where it makes mistakes.
Theory of Change
We use individual cases to advocate and campaign, informing the media, parliament, criminal justice policy makers and the public about how and why miscarriages of justice occur and what needs to change to stop them. We inspire the legal profession to take on this challenge and join us in fighting for change
Sustaining our work
Our cases can take years to resolve so we must constantly find new sources of funding and better ways of working to remain sustainable.
Please note accounting rules mean that our annual income figures on the Charity Commission site includes the cash value of the pro bono hours donated to us by commercial law firms. Our annual operational budget is significantly lower.
If you are a grant-maker or donor and would like to discuss how we could use your support to leverage criminal justice reform as well as freedom for individual prisoners, please contact us.
