Court awards costs to couple after FGM convictions declared miscarriage of justice

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The Court of Appeal has awarded costs to a couple whose convictions for female genital mutilation (FGM) were quashed and later declared a miscarriage of justice. Justice Isobel Kennedy said the couple had succeeded and there was no reason to depart from the normal rule that costs go to the successful party.

In June, the court found on the balance of probabilities that the couple were factually innocent and granted miscarriage of justice certificates. The convictions had been quashed in 2021 over serious inaccuracies in the translation of their testimony; a retrial in 2023 ended without a verdict, and the Director of Public Prosecutions later dropped the charges.

The court’s decision followed expert reports concerning the child’s condition. The Court of Appeal ruled that the reports constituted newly discovered facts supporting its miscarriage of justice finding.