RASSO Regression
Concerns within the Criminal Bar Association recently led to a survey of more than 750 of its members. The results were stark and point to significant issues within an important aspect of criminal work.
Rape and serious sexual offences (or ‘RASSO’ for short) make up a high-profile proportion of the cases that are heard before criminal courts each year. In spite of this, the number of barristers willing to take on this type of work is small and looks set to dwindle even further.
More than 50% of barristers cited insufficient pay as a reason for not taking on RASSO cases. Meanwhile half raised concerns about their well-being.
It would be very easy to portray these survey results as fat-cat lawyers wanting to do less work for more pay, but that does not reflect the harsh reality of legal work outside of the lucrative commercial sector.