Humanising the Prosecution
Improvements to the law and legal processes are only useful if those affected can take advantage of them.
That is why a recent promise by the Crown Prosecution Service to meet with rape victims before trial is so important. It will present a vital opportunity to ask questions, be talked through the logistics of a trial, and better understand options such as appearing via video link.
All of this is part of a new Victims’ Code that is making its way through Parliament as part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill.
Speaking about the changes, the Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, noted:
“Going to court as a victim can be daunting and confusing so meetings with the prosecution team will ensure they can have their questions answered and worries eased.
“Helping rape victims to give their best evidence will ensure we put more of these vile attackers behind bars.”
It also makes sense to focus on rape victims for this kind of support. Not only is the trauma of rape scary and daunting to re-live in the context of a courtroom but the data shows that whereas in other criminal cases the defendant will plead guilty 60% of the time, in rape cases that same figure drops below 20%.
All of this means that rape trials are much more likely to collapse as victims choose to withdraw instead of facing the prospect of giving evidence before a defendant who denies all wrongdoing.
This latest reform alongside other changes like the use of pre-recorded evidence, hiring Sexual Violence Advisors, and Operation Soteria (whereby academics work with the police and prosecutors to improve processes) should be welcomed as improvements that will hopefully deliver positive results.
It is also a win for Chalk as he continues to establish himself at the Ministry of Justice. Nevertheless these minor changes continue to ignore the underlying issue that is affecting rape trials and criminal prosecutions in general: the backlog in the courts.
Few things are more dangerous to a trial than time. The pressure over a long period causes victims to withdraw their evidence, as time goes by that eye witness evidence becomes less reliable, and trials simply become more prone to collapsing.
Only when the Secretary of State addresses this major issue will we be able to assess his performance.
This week on the podcast we explore a tragic case where a woman living in a care home died after she refused to go to the hospital in an ambulance. We discuss what role the law should play in balancing the health of the patient with their autonomy.
Episode link: http://uklawweekly.com/2023-uksc-20/
Make a difference today,
Marcus