Beyond/Without a shadow of a doubt
If something is true beyond a shadow of a doubt, it is certainly true.
Cambridge Dictionary
The expression “beyond a shadow of a doubt” is typically used to convey a high degree of certainty or conviction about something. The key points of this expression can be summarized as follows:
Certainty: The expression emphasizes a high level of certainty or conviction. It suggests that there is absolutely no doubt or ambiguity about the truth or validity of something.
Exclusion of doubt: The use of the word “beyond” in the expression implies that doubt or uncertainty has been completely eliminated or excluded. It conveys the idea that any possible doubts have been thoroughly addressed or dispelled.
Strong emphasis: The expression is often used for emphasis, emphasizing that the speaker’s belief or assertion is unwavering and absolute. It can be used to emphasize the strength and clarity of a statement or a conclusion.
Legal connotation: The expression is commonly used in legal contexts, where it signifies a high standard of proof required in a court of law. It implies that the evidence or arguments presented are so compelling and conclusive that there can be no doubt about the truth or guilt of the matter at hand.
Absolute confidence: The expression conveys a sense of unwavering confidence, suggesting that the speaker is completely convinced of the truth or validity of their statement or belief, without any room for doubt.
Overall, “beyond a shadow of a doubt” is a powerful expression that conveys a high level of certainty, confidence, and conviction about the truth or validity of something, leaving no room for doubt or ambiguity.
What is your feeling towards the police? knowing that all this evidence existed, and at the very best and someone had forgotten to look into it, haven’t got the resources to look into it or that this was a total incompetence or a perversion of justice, you must be fuming.
I mean naturally internally anger and frustration are probably the prominent feelings but I sort of made it clear and when I’ve been speaking and I’ve been from the off before I’ve been speaking out loud you know if I sit there and get angry and you know just want vengeance then you could have gone to jail because of this 100% but I mean there’s other people now that going through the same thing or if things don’t change as soon as possible and now obviously I now have a platform to do that or at least speak in terms of getting those conversations going.
But let’s also talk about the platform that you’re on because we’re sitting here we’re to your mum’s here beside you we all know who you are, we all know what you’re accused of your life has put on hold and people, you know people would have a lot of people to say there’s no smoke without fire, so your name and your reputation has been tarnished by all of this yet your accuser, no one has any idea who your accuser is ,they have got anonymity and they have anonymity for life, do you think that is correct?
Especially there was no blame on Liam.
It was the justice system that fell short, especially how it was that if fell short.
2 Rape and sexual assault cases to be ‘urgently’ reviewed | ITV News
Gepubliceerd op 28 jan. 2018
Prosecutor Jerry Hayes mention 900 cases were abandoned the last year because of lac of disclosure.
It is always been a problem. It has always been the elephant in the room.
Video: “Rape and sexual assaut cases te be ‘urgently’ reviewed | ITV News”
Three men all accused of rape charged and sent for trial but three cases that all collapsed because vital evidence was only provided at the eleventh hour such as the seriousness of failing to disclose evidence the Crown Prosecution Service is now urgently looking again at every current rape and sexual offence case. 22-year old Samuel Armstrong was accused of rape he was cleared after crucial evidence was disclosed just eight days before his trial began he wants more than just a review there’s a missing word in what she said which is quite simple sorry if Alan Saunders recognizes that there’s a problem if she acknowledges that this is an issue and things have gone wrong it’s quite simple she needs to apologize – Liam Allen Oliver Mears myself and all the other victims. Police and prosecutors have a duty to hand over relevant material which may help the defense case but it’sd a procedure that’s repeatedly gone wrong.
It’s very apparent that in some cases mistakes have been made that simply shoudn’t have been. It is important that when you look at that kind of case that the prosecutors and the investigators look at social media traffic look at text messages that have passed between the two individuals because they can put what’s happened in a very significant different light.
The CPS wants more disclosure training for police so they’re aware of the correct procedures each force should have a disclosure expert and they want social media and phone based evidence to be handed to the defense digitally.
Liam Allen was also wrongly accussed of rape. His trial collapsed when police forced to disclose text messages proving his innocence.
The prosecutor in that case admits this is a broader problem.
This wasn’t the only case there were another four and then that turned into 14 and then suddenly we see 900 cases were abandoned over the last year because of lack of disclosure. It has always been a problem. It has always been the elephant in the room.
At the moment the CPSQ is review is confined to just rape and sexual assault cases but it raises the prospect that other cases could also be looked at.
The governent has also launched massive review into how police and prosecutors disclose evidence ant it’s that that many people hope will lead to significant changes to the system. Emily Morgan ITV News in Westminister.
Gepubliceerd op 18 mei 2019
4 What is disclosure and why is reform needed to avoid another Liam Allen scandal?
6 BBC Radio 4 PM – “Justice On Trial” – Police & CPS Corruption and Failures
7 BBC Radio 4 PM – “Justice On Trial” – Police & CPS Corruption and Failures
14 aug. 2018
“PM” with Eddie Mair, 17.00 6th June 2018 BBC Radio 4.
START
GTS
Eddie Mair: Justice on trial;
Vox 1: The police are failing to investigate objectively; that means that all proper and reasonable lines of enquiry are not being made.
Vox 2: Each and every failure is a human body that was treated badly, and some of them – I know for a fact some of them – will be in prison now for crimes they didn’t commit.
EM: We’ll have the full story, also ….
…
EM: With the BBC News now, Diana Speed.
Diana Speed: The Crown Prosecution Service has revealed that dozens of cases involving rape and sexual assault have been halted after vital evidence was withheld from defence lawyers. A review was launched in England and Wales earlier this year when a series of cases collapsed. The head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission which examines suspected miscarriages of justice told this programme the findings were extremely worrying. Clive Coleman reports:
Clive Coleman: Forty-seven rape or sexual assault cases were stopped: five where prosecutors found disclosure failure to be the main issue; forty-two where disclosure failure was deemed to be an important issue. Fourteen defendants had to be released from custody as a result. In response, the CPS intends to review charging decisions and identify electronic evidence earlier in the process. This, on top of a national disclosure improvement plan announced in January [2018], which increased training and a number of “Disclosure Champions”. But today’s review after only a tiny fraction of the total number of cases prosecuted but the CPS annually.
DS: Companies who took part in the ….
…
EM: It’s five-past-five. Towards the end of last year, 22 year old Liam Allan was suddenly in the news: he’d been accused of rape. His trial collapsed when it emerged crucial evidence had not been disclosed to the defence as part of the trial process. Liam Allan, it turns out, was not alone. Isaac Itiary, accused of child rape, was cleared at court with prosecutors offering no evidence after the police said material had not been given to the defence team. The trial of Samson Makele, also accused of rape, was stopped when his defence team had found evidence that had not been disclosed. A student, Oliver Mears had the case against him dropped days before his trial after he spent two years on bail. After all of that a review was set up by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, the CPS. Today it found forty-seven cases which were stopped because evidence had not been shared with the defence. Alison Saunders is head of the CPS:
Alison Saunders: The key findings from this report is [sic] that sometimes we charge threshold cases too early, that we need to be more robust in that, and we have already started work so our charging division is already sending more case
Critical problems in police disclosure, investigation culture, and the resourcing of criminal justice
Criminal Law Review, 2018
Thomas Smith
Miscarriages of justice have historically acted as catalysts for reform. It seems we only learn to fix the most serious problems — often obvious to those at the coal-face of practice — once the damage is done. Such miscarriages have largely resulted in attempts to learn from the abuses and mistakes of those trusted with power. It is unusual for a “near miss” (that is, when a wrongful conviction is (just about) avoided) to come to public attention at all, let alone highlight the range of chronic problems troubling English and Welsh criminal justice.
The case of Liam Allan is one such “near miss”, and amply highlights significant and, until recently, under-reported problems related to the disclosure of evidence by the police at the earliest stages of the criminal justice system.
They typify the flawed structure of the current system which, without radical action, will inevitably lead to repeated injustice for accused persons and victims of crime; wasting of time and resources; and a loss of public confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the justice system. This article focuses primarily on Allan’s case, and examines this issue by addressing three specific concerns: the disclosure of evidence and information by the police; investigation culture, particularly in relation to allegations of sexual offences; and the wider problem of resourcing of the criminal justice system.
Issue: 9
Page Numbers: 711-731
Publication Date: 2018
Publication Name: Criminal Law Review
The Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service have apologised to 22-year-old Liam Allan after a review found mistakes were made in the disclosure of evidence relating to a collapsed rape case against him.
Six hundred cases of rape and sexual assault are being reviewed by the Metropolitan Police, with thousands more under review nationally, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
“The disclosure problems in this case were caused by a combination of error, lack of challenge, and lack of knowledge,” a joint review by Scotland Yard and the CPS into Mr Allan’s case said
Commander Richard Smith of the Metropolitan Police and Claire Lindley, Chief Crown Prosecutor for London South spoke to reporters at Scotland Yard after a review into the case.
Mr Smith said: “Claire and I met with Mr Allan yesterday afternoon where he received a personal apology from us both and I was really pleased to have that opportunity to meet with him face-to-face, allow him to read the report and apologise for the errors that were made.”
Mr Smith added: “We have moved in 120 officers to assist with the review of the 600 cases we have which are post-charge at the moment.”
Ms Lindley said: “The 600 cases live in the system presently are still being reviewed. That process has not yet finished.
“During the review some cases have given cause for concern. Some cases are discontinued in the normal course of events.”
She could not give a figure on how many cases are involved in a national review of all rape cases, but said: “There must be thousands”.
All current rape and sexual assault cases across England and Wales will be reviewed to make sure evidence disclosure obligations have been met.
It comes after a flurry of cases sparked serious concerns over arrangements surrounding the disclosure to defence teams of crucial evidence.
In the lead-up to trials, police and prosecutors are required to hand over relevant material that either undermines the prosecution case or assists the defence case.
But the regime came under sharp focus after defendants facing rape allegations had the charges against them dropped when critical evidence emerged at the 11th hour.
Metropolitan Police to review 30 sex crime investigations
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said steps are being taken to identify any individual cases of concern “as a matter of urgency”.
“Inevitably, bringing forward these case reviews means it is likely that there may be a number of cases which we will be stopping at around the same time,” she said.
On Friday the Crown Prosecution Service, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing published a disclosure “improvement plan”.
It set out plans to review training on disclosure, develop a cadre of specialist and experienced disclosure experts in every force and provide all multimedia evidence from the CPS to the defence via direct electronic link by July.
The document also commits to reviewing whether there “should be a requirement for officers to hold a Licence to Practise in respect of disclosure” by January 2019.
Last updated Sat 27 Jan 2018
Life can be hell
If you can’t even yell
Why is communicating difficult?
Silence is your biggest fault
Stuck in a rut
Trust your gut
Speak your mind
And in Time you will find
That doors will open
By the words you have spoken
Het leven kan een hel zijn
Als je niet eens kunt schreeuwen
Waarom is communiceren moeilijk?
Zwijgen is je grootste fout
Vastzitten in een sleur
Vertrouw op je gevoel
Spreek je gedachten uit
En mettertijd zul je merken
dat deuren opengaan
door de woorden die je gesproken hebt
Next page: A senseless ordeal
