Appeal court declares quashed FGM convictions a miscarriage of justice

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal has declared a miscarriage of justice in the case of a couple whose convictions for the female genital mutilation of their daughter had been quashed. The court found, on the balance of probabilities, that the applicants were factually innocent.

The court said newly discovered facts in expert reports supported its decision. The convictions had been overturned in 2021 because serious inaccuracies in the translation of the parents’ testimony meant their trial was unfair. A jury at a 2023 retrial could not agree on a verdict, and the Director of Public Prosecutions later dropped the charges.