History of Rough Justice
How the program began
The programme was the idea of Peter Hill, the first producer, who came up with the concept in 1980. It was a first for British television. A spokesman from the Law Society, the Solicitors’ organisation, said: “This kind of programme is common in America, but I have never heard of it being done in this country.”
Surprisingly the reaction from the press was mixed. The Mail thought it a good idea: “One must admire the BBC (and its lawyers) for seeking at considerable risk, to redress what may have been a grievous miscarriage of justice”, as did the Express: “One of the more challenging TV programmes to reach our screens for a long time, deserves the closest attention…”. The Sun disagreed: “The BBC enjoys great privileges…it should never abuse its position to play judge and jury”.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reaction from the authorities was hostile. The police were reported as being furious, and one of the first programmes prompted an angry letter to the Times (in the days when a letter to the Times meant something) from a Home Office forensic scientist. Institutions as diverse as the DHSS and British Rail were obstructive. The programme was considered by a House of Commons Select Committee
However, the authorities took note. All of the first run of three cases were re-investigated. The man who was the subject of the first case, Jock Russell had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. An auspicious start.
Basic facts
The programme has spawned two books (Rough Justice, BBC Ariel, 1983 and More Rough Justice, Penguin, 1985), created a spin-off series on Channel Four (Trial and Error), and been the subject of numerous newspaper reports, editorials and articles. It has made 29 films, which have resulted in 15 convictions being quashed. And the success is on-going. There are a further 4 cases which are currently being looked at by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and 5 cases which are awaiting a hearing at the Court of Appeal.
One of the greatest achievements of the programme is that it changed the legal landscape, by highlighting the failures of the criminal justice system in this country. In the first Rough Justice book, Martin Young and Peter Hill wrote: “…it is much worse that we have no independent institution, formal or informal, that will reinvestigate a convicted man’s case.”
Today there is such an institution, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, set up 1997 to do just what Young and Hill wanted. And Rough Justice can claim a large amount of credit for this: it was a change in the public’s attitude to the infallibility of our courts, prompted in no small way by the programme, that led to the change in official attitudes and the creation of the body
.Rough Justice has been fronted by Martin Young, David Jessel, John Ware and Kirsty Wark