Rape prosecution practice to be overhauled
15 Jun 06
Prosecutors to work on presumption that all cases will go to court
Prosecutors are to adopt a presumption that all rape cases with sufficient credible and reliable evidence will lead to trials, and rape victims will face tougher - but sensitive - questioning of their allegations to get better quality evidence.
These were among the recommendations reported to the Scottish Parliament by Solicitor General Elish Angiolini yesterday.
The recommendations, which result from a comprehensive review of the rape laws on behalf of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, include:
- development of comprehensive training and guidance for prosecutors, and a certification system for legal staff working with rape cases;
- strengthening communication with victims;
- strengthening communications between the police and prosecutors at the earliest stage to allow the procurator fiscal to provide advice and direction and to influence evidence-gathering;
- always prosecuting the charge of sodomy involving male or transgender victims and children in the High Court;
- only where there is no reasonable prospect of conviction, should a decision be made to take no proceedings.
Mrs Angiolini said: "Rape is one of the most vile crimes which can be committed in society and is accordingly treated with the same degree of seriousness in the Scottish criminal justice system as murder.
"This report provides a comprehensive and frank study of the complex and difficult issues involved in prosecuting rape, and explains the realities of the type of rape cases which are dealt with in Scotland."
Narrow definition
The report found a third of all cases of rape reported fall at the first hurdle, when reported to the procurator fiscal by the police. Of those cases, the overwhelming majority (approximately 80%) were marked not to proceed by the procurator fiscal on the basis of insufficiency of evidence.
Ms Angiolini went on to say that Scotland had the narrowest definition of rape of all the countries the review group had looked at. It was so strictly defined that it excluded a "vast raft" of sexual offences which are included in definitions of rape elsewhere in the world. This combined with the corroboration requirement leads to the low conviction rate.
She added: "We noted in the review that in jurisdictions where the ambit of the definition of rape was wide there was, unsurprisingly, often a higher conviction rate.
Sandy Brindley, National Coordinator for Rape Crisis Scotland, said: "We are particularly pleased to see within the report the emphasis placed on the Crown taking a case-building approach to these offences. The conviction rate for rape in particular is extremely poor and there is a clear need for concerted action to improve confidence in the justice response to rape."
Ms Brindley went on to say that in order to make a real difference, significant steps must also be taken to address attitudes within society which blame women for the violence inflicted on them.
Long-term project
Crown Office said that the implementation of the recommendations would be a long-term project over the coming three years. The recommendations of the review of the law of rape and other sexual offences currently being undertaken by the Scottish Law Commission will become available during that time and will be taken into account.