Principle 7 Global is not a firm of solicitors or barristers.
Our role is investigative.
We examine the case from the ground up to establish what happened, what evidence existed, what evidence was presented, what may have been overlooked and what further enquiries can now be undertaken.
Depending upon the individual case, our work can include:
• analysing the prosecution and defence cases;
• reviewing previous legal files and defence preparation;
• examining unused and disclosed material;
• identifying contradictions and evidential anomalies;
• constructing detailed chronologies;
• establishing what enquiries were and were not undertaken before trial;
• tracing and interviewing witnesses;
• obtaining witness statements;
• undertaking further evidential enquiries;
• identifying areas where appropriate expert examination may be required; and
• organising the resulting evidence for consideration by appropriately authorised legal professionals.
There is an important distinction between investigating and preparing the evidential foundations of an appeal and undertaking reserved legal activities.
Where reserved legal work or advocacy is required, an appropriately authorised solicitor or barrister will undertake that work.
Our objective is to ensure that when the case reaches that stage, it has been investigated rather than merely reread.
We begin by discussing the circumstances of the conviction, any previous appeal history, the issues already identified and what case material is currently available. This allows us to establish the likely scope of the work before any full instruction is agreed and provide you with a guide to likelyhood of costs.
Where somebody else is making enquiries or funding the work for a person in custody, the convicted person will ordinarily remain our client. Written authority will be obtained confirming who we may communicate with and what information we are authorised to discuss.
With the appropriate authority, relevant case material can be requested from previous representatives and other appropriate sources. Increasingly, legal files are transferred electronically, although arrangements will depend upon who holds the material.
The material is organised and examined systematically. This may include witness statements, exhibits, unused material, interviews, expert reports, correspondence, attendance notes, Counsel's papers, disclosure records and previous appeal documentation.
We compare the prosecution case, the defence case and the preparation undertaken before trial. Issues already identified by the client are examined, but the review does not stop there. Contradictions, evidential anomalies, missing enquiries and other potentially significant matters are identified for further consideration.
Where necessary, further work may include tracing witnesses, obtaining statements, locating records, reconstructing timelines, examining disclosure, undertaking factual enquiries and identifying areas requiring appropriate expert examination.
Finding an inconsistency, mistake or piece of previously unused evidence does not automatically create a Ground of Appeal.
The issue must first be investigated and placed into context. We need to establish what the evidence actually proves, whether it can be independently supported, whether it was previously considered and, importantly, whether it is capable of affecting the safety of the conviction.
Where our investigation identifies potentially significant issues, we will assemble the relevant evidence and supporting material so that the case can be considered by an appropriately authorised solicitor and/or specialist criminal appeal Counsel.
This may include witness statements, documentary evidence, chronologies, schedules of contradictions, expert material, previous legal records and the results of further enquiries undertaken by Principle 7 Global.
Counsel remains independent.
Principle 7 Global cannot guarantee that Counsel will agree that a particular issue amounts to a sustainable Ground of Appeal. The purpose of our investigation is to give Counsel the strongest possible evidential foundation upon which to make that legal assessment.
Where Counsel considers that realistic Grounds exist, the appropriate legal documentation and Grounds of Appeal can then be prepared and the application progressed through the proper legal process.
Sometimes a detailed investigation establishes that the evidence simply does not support the concerns being raised. If that happens, we will tell you.
We will not manufacture Grounds of Appeal, encourage an unrealistic application or continue unnecessary work simply because somebody is willing to pay for it.
Principle 7 Global will not knowingly support or assist in advancing an appeal which, following our investigation, we do not genuinely consider to have a proper evidential foundation.
There is an important reason for this. The Court of Appeal expects applications to be properly considered and has powers to impose consequences where applications without merit are pursued.
For an applicant in custody, this can include a loss of time order, meaning that a specified period spent in custody following the application may not count towards the sentence being served. The Court also has powers to make costs orders in appropriate circumstances.
An unsuccessful appeal does not automatically result in either of these consequences. However, they demonstrate why an appeal should never be pursued simply on the basis that there is “nothing to lose”.
Equally, an investigation which disproves one theory does not necessarily end our review. Other evidence may point in a different direction and will be considered on its own merits.
Our job is not to prove that you have a case. Our job is to establish whether you have one — and we will only stand behind conclusions that the evidence allows us to stand behind.
Some criminal cases cannot properly be reviewed without specialist expertise.
A prosecution case may have depended upon scientific, medical, financial, digital or other expert evidence. Alternatively, our investigation may identify an issue which was never examined by an appropriate expert before trial.
Depending upon the case, specialist evidence might be required in areas including:
• fingerprints;
• DNA and other forensic science;
• pathology and cause of death;
• toxicology;
• firearms and ballistics;
• digital forensics;
• mobile telephone and telecommunications evidence;
• accountancy and financial evidence;
• handwriting and document examination;
• medical evidence;
• psychology or psychiatry; and
• other specialist disciplines relevant to the particular case.
An expert should not simply be instructed in the hope of finding somebody who disagrees with the prosecution.
The first question is:
Is there a genuine evidential issue which requires specialist expertise?
Where there is, Principle 7 Global can help identify the precise issue requiring examination, collate the relevant material and liaise with an appropriate expert as part of our investigative work.
This can be particularly important where expert evidence was used at trial but no independent defence expert was instructed, or where developments in science, technology or professional understanding since the original proceedings may justify the evidence being examined again.
An expert's conclusions must remain entirely independent. We do not instruct experts to provide the answer we or the client want. Their role is to provide their professional opinion based upon the evidence.
Sometimes that opinion supports the concerns identified during our investigation.
Sometimes it does not.
Either result matters, because the purpose of the exercise is to establish the evidence — not manufacture it.
Expert fees and other specialist disbursements are not included within Principle 7 Global's standard case-review fee unless expressly agreed. Where expert evidence appears necessary, the reason for the proposed instruction and the anticipated cost will be discussed with the client before the expense is incurred wherever practicable.
No two criminal appeal cases are the same.
A relatively narrow review involving a specific evidential issue cannot sensibly be compared with a murder or other serious conviction involving thousands of pages of material, numerous witnesses, expert evidence and substantial further investigation.
For that reason, Principle 7 Global will first seek to understand the size and complexity of the case and the work likely to be required.
Wherever practicable, we then agree a clearly defined scope of work and a fixed fee for our investigative and case-review services.
We favour this approach because it gives the client certainty. You know what work has been agreed, what Principle 7 Global will undertake and what our fee will be for completing that work.
It also means that our remuneration is not determined by how quickly we can close the file. If an agreed investigation requires examination of a substantial volume of material, that forms part of the work we have agreed to undertake.
Our fixed fee relates to Principle 7 Global's own work.
External expenditure may be required during the investigation or subsequent appeal process. Depending upon the case, this could include:
• expert fees;
• official transcript charges;
• laboratory or forensic examination;
• specialist reports;
• solicitors' fees;
• Counsel's fees; and
• other necessary third-party expenditure.
These costs are separate unless expressly included within the written agreement. Wherever practicable, we will discuss the reason for the expenditure and anticipated cost with the client before it is incurred.
Private funding does not buy a successful appeal.
What it can buy is the:
Time and resources necessary to investigate the case properly:
Time to read.
Time to investigate.
Time to trace witnesses.
Time to examine unused material.
Time to obtain evidence.
Time to establish what the original defence team did.
And sometimes, just as importantly:
Time to establish what they didn't do.
Criminal appeal work requires more than simply reading a set of papers and looking for a legal argument.
Sometimes the most important issue is buried within thousands of pages of evidence. Sometimes it is contained within an unused document, an attendance note or a contradiction between witnesses. Sometimes it is a witness who was never interviewed, an expert who was never instructed or an enquiry which was never undertaken.
That is where investigative experience matters.
Principle 7 Global is headed by Paul Hagan, who has more than 13 years' experience working within criminal law, including approximately nine years dealing specifically with criminal appeals and applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
That experience has involved serious and complex cases including murder, organised crime, Class A drug importation, money laundering, rape and other sexual offences, child abuse, theft, aggravated burglary and other serious criminal allegations.
Alongside that criminal casework is almost 30 years' experience within private investigation.
Investigative assignments have required enquiries throughout the United Kingdom and internationally, including work in Colombia, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, the United States and Europe, tracing witnesses, obtaining evidence and undertaking enquiries in support of serious criminal cases.
That combination is particularly relevant to criminal appeal work.
We understand the importance of the legal issues, but our primary focus is the evidence behind them.
We ask:
What actually happened?
What evidence supports it?
What contradicts it?
What was investigated before trial?
What wasn't investigated?
What evidence can still be obtained now?
Only when those questions have been properly examined can the evidence be placed before the appropriate legal professional for consideration of whether sustainable Grounds of Appeal arise.
Principle 7 Global does not promise to find Grounds of Appeal. We promise to investigate the case properly and tell you the truth.