Post-Conviction Remedies for Innocence

Most countries allow some appellate or post-conviction review of criminal convictions and sentences. But these remedies vary widely in both form and effectiveness. Opportunities to challenge convictions on grounds of possible innocence, when new evidence arises, are even more disparate across countries. This intensive subject will allow students to engage in comparative study of several countries with the goal of identifying competing values at stake in the factual and legal reconsideration of past criminal convictions and sentences; considering possible distorting factors such as capital punishment, unusually long or short prison sentences, or relative judicial independence; and identifying possible best practices that may emerge from cross-cultural examination of legal systems.