Wrongful Convictions, Miscarriages of Justice, and Political Repression: Challenges for Transitional Justice

A great deal of discussion has focused on the defi nition of “wrongful conviction.” One important defi nition, by inference, can be found in the Council of Europe’s (1998) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms:Protocol No. 7, Article 3, Compensation for Wrongful Conviction When a person has by a fi nal decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed, or he has been pardoned, on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to the law or the practice of the State concerned, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him.