A REFORMED CHARACTER?
Should we reform the legal system to protect all the victims in rape cases?
Bring in the professionals
The USA has a higher conviction rate than the UK. In some places, such as California, over 90% of rape cases that reach court end in convictions, as opposed to under 48% in the UK.
Ex-US sex-crime prosecutor Alice Vachss, who won 80% of her cases before leaving the profession, explains why:
“In the US, we have prosecutors that work only on sex crimes, and they receive intensive and on-going training from experts. Unlike the UK, these prosecutors will work with police to investigate a case from the minute it is alleged, so their knowledge and understanding of exactly what happened is far greater. In the UK, the first time the complainant will meet the prosecutor is at court.”
The proposal is not disimilar to a suggestion made by Lord Campbell-Savours. He believes that a system used by many European countries could help improve conviction rates. He said:
Conviction rates from around Europe*:
Latvia: 60%
Hungary: 54%
France: 32%
Czech Republic: 25%
Germany: 23%
Portugal: 17%
Finland: 11%
UK: 5.6%
Ireland: 1%
*Source: Regan and Kelly (2003), p13.
“The reason [other countries] have a higher conviction rate is because they don’t use juries, they use a judge and assessors. This is because it is seen as being a very sensitive area of the law that shouldn’t be dealt with by mere mortal jurors. I think this should be considered.”
However, Jon Collins from the Fawcett Society disagrees. He believes that the way forward is not to get rid of the jury all together, rather:
“There is a lot of work to do in informing the public who, after all, are the ones who make up juries, about what the law is around rape and what is meant by consent.”
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