At war with the court’s ‘sublime complacency’: Bob Woffnden remembered

Jon Robins in Chapter 14 reflects upon Bob Woffinden’s book, Miscarriages of Justice, noting that a core and lasting frustration is the refusal of the criminal justice system to recognise its errors or be held accountable in any way. Miscarriages of justice are held up as the inevitable by-product of a broken justice system. The chapter argues that Woffinden’s work provides context for the problems that face the criminal justice system to this day. This chapter locates Woffinden’s work in an academic literature that presupposes widespread media interest in the miscarriages of justice crisis. Robins draws on his own experience as a leading investigative journalist looking at miscarriages of justice to show that such confidence is misplaced. He argues that the British public is barely aware of miscarriages of justice with the notable exception of salacious US cases that might feature in a Netflix documentary. For Robins, this book provides the evidence base and moral case for reform and demands a wider audience.