Dame Vera Baird KC — Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission

Role in the case

Dame Vera Baird KC became Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission to address widely-noted systemic concerns about CCRC referral rates and case-handling capacity. Under her chairmanship, the CCRC has adopted a more publicly communicative posture on active reviews.

Her 13 February 2026 statement on the Letby application confirmed three specific operational points: (a) a preliminary application was received by the CCRC in early February 2025; (b) additional material has been received throughout the intervening year; (c) the review is underway. She noted explicitly that the CCRC “does not make decisions on the basis of external pressure from anyone” — a statement of the statutory-independence principle under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995.

Professional background

Called to the Bar 1975; appointed Queen’s Counsel 2000.
Labour MP for Redcar 2001-2010.
Solicitor General for England and Wales 2007-2010.
Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales 2019-2022; publicly resigned over what she described as inadequate government engagement with victims’ policy.
Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Appointed Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Why her role matters for the review

The CCRC’s statutory function under section 13 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 is to determine whether there is a ‘real possibility’ that the Court of Appeal would overturn a conviction. It does not determine guilt or innocence itself. Under Dame Vera Baird’s chairmanship, the CCRC’s public-facing communication on high-profile reviews has been somewhat more forthcoming than under her predecessors, while the underlying statutory function remains unchanged.

The February 2026 statement is load-bearing for the post-conviction public-recognition arc because it is the first time a senior UK criminal-justice statutory body has publicly confirmed that the Letby convictions are under active review.

The 13 February 2026 statement: what it confirmed and why it matters

Dame Vera Baird’s statement of 13 February 2026 was significant not primarily for what it disclosed about the substance of the review — the CCRC does not publicly discuss case-specific evidential questions during an active review — but for what its publication confirmed institutionally. The statement was the first time a senior UK criminal-justice statutory body had publicly acknowledged that the Letby convictions are under active review. It was the CCRC’s first public confirmation since the preliminary application was received in early February 2025.

The statement confirmed three operational facts: that a preliminary CCRC application was received in February 2025; that additional material had been submitted and received throughout the intervening twelve months; and that the review is underway. It also included an explicit statement of the CCRC’s statutory independence: the Commission “does not make decisions on the basis of external pressure from anyone.” This was read in context as a response to public commentary — both from those pressing for a referral and from those opposing it — and as a statement of the Commission’s position under section 13 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995.

Prior roles: Solicitor General and Victims’ Commissioner

Dame Vera Baird’s career prior to the CCRC chairmanship is relevant context for understanding her public posture on the Letby review. As Solicitor General from 2007 to 2010, she was part of the Law Officers’ department responsible for the CPS and for the Crown’s prosecutorial decisions across England and Wales. She has direct experience of the institutional machinery of criminal justice from the inside.

Her period as Victims’ Commissioner from 2019 to 2022 added a different dimension: she publicly resigned from that role over what she described as the government’s inadequate engagement with victims’ rights policy. That public resignation is relevant background because it established her as a figure willing to make public statements on criminal-justice institutional failures when she considers the situation warrants it. Her decision to make the February 2026 statement, rather than maintain the CCRC’s usual silence on active cases, should be read in that biographical context.

The CCRC review process: how the ‘real possibility’ test applies

The CCRC’s statutory test under section 13 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 is whether there is a “real possibility” that the Court of Appeal would overturn the conviction. This is not a balance-of-probabilities test and it is not a determination of guilt or innocence; it is a jurisdictional gateway test. The CCRC must form a judgment about whether the new evidence or argument is capable of persuading the Court of Appeal that the conviction is unsafe. Dame Vera Baird as Chair does not determine that question personally; the Commission is a multi-member body and cases are assessed by case-review managers and commissioners. The Chair’s public role is to represent the Commission’s institutional position.

The volume and quality of material submitted to the CCRC in the Letby application — including the Shoo Lee International Expert Panel report of February 2025, the independent radiology and pathology re-readings submitted in October 2025, the forensic biochemistry materials on the insulin evidence, and the Hummingbird whistleblower report — is, in the public record, unusually substantial for a post-conviction review of this age. Whether that material meets the section-13 threshold is the question the CCRC is currently assessing.

Read alongside

Source

CCRC public statement of 13 February 2026 (ccrc.gov.uk); Criminal Appeal Act 1995 section 13; Hansard parliamentary record (2001-2010); BBC / Guardian biographical archive; CCRC annual reports.