John Christopher (Christy) Walsh, from west Belfast, was convicted in 1991 by a Diplock court of possessing explosives in connection with the conflict in Northern Ireland, and campaigned for 20 years to clear his name on the basis that his conviction was a miscarriage of justice. His case was referred to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2000. That appeal having failed, he appealed again and in January 2002 his conviction was upheld even though the court acknowledged the possibility that procedural irregularities might have amounted to an interference with his

right to a fair trial A fair trial is a trial which is "conducted fairly, justly, and with procedural regularity by an impartial judge". Various rights associated with a fair trial are explicitly proclaimed in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, th ...

. Following an unprecedented third appeal on the basis of new evidence, his conviction was overturned as unsafe on 16 March 2010. Walsh has been refused compensation for the conviction and time spent in prison and is currently engaged in campaigns to reverse that decision and to draw attention to the alleged failings of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. In October 2012, Walsh made an application for a

writ of coram nobis A writ of ''coram nobis'' (also writ of error ''coram nobis'', writ of ''coram vobis'', or writ of error ''coram vobis'') is a legal order allowing a court to correct its original judgment upon discovery of a fundamental error that did not appear i ...

. His Honour Mr Justice Weatherup observed, "The Court of Appeal concluded that there was no ground on which a court of first instance could reopen its own decision other than for fraud.... Any impropriety by Counsel for the Department will be dealt with by the complaints and discipline procedures applicable to members of the Bar".Writ of Coram Nobis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Christy Human rights in Northern Ireland The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Living people Wrongful convictions Year of birth missing (living people)