Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the results of any review that has been carried out by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, or other public authority within his responsibility, of criminal cases in which Mr John McCafferty was involved in providing forensic evidence for the prosecution.

Section 23 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1995 prevents the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) from disclosing any information obtained by the Commission in the exercise of any of their functions (specified exceptions do apply).

In line with legislation, following a Case Review the CCRC will provide all applicants with a Statement of Reasons, as to why the case was referred or not referred to the Court of Appeal.

The Ministry of Justice is not aware of any other reviews undertaken by other public authorities that concerned Mr McCafferty. Mr McCafferty previously worked for the Forensic Science Service (FSS). The FSS was a government owned company, sponsored by the Home Office, which was dissolved in 2012.