CCRC application status — Spring 2026 update

A legal commentator's update on the Criminal Cases Review Commission application status as of Spring 2026. Covers Dame Vera Baird KC's 13 February 2026 public confirmation that the review is underway, with material received throughout 2025; the section-13 Criminal Appeal Act 1995 statutory test ('a real possibility' the conviction would not be upheld); and the Donna Anthony precedent (2005) confirming that first-appeal refusal does not foreclose CCRC referral. The commentator addresses common public misunderstandings about CCRC capacity, throughput and timing, and emphasises the statutory-independence principle Baird re-stated in February.