Review of rape cases watershed for justice
Rape cases are notoriously difficult for the legal system to deal with. For a start, a Ministry of Justice report in 2013 estimated that only 15% of rapes are ever reported to police and 40% of complainants who do begin the legal process drop out before reaching court.
It is encouraging to note that in the year ending in March past the number of rape or other serious sexual offences reports sent to the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland rose by 36% and 15% respectively.
It takes great courage for a complainant to begin the legal process. They know they face intrusive questioning and that intimate details will be revealed in open court. And, in most cases involving rape, it is the word of the complainant against the defendant. Seldom do either have independent corroborative evidence.
In the last year the PPS considered evidence against 567 rape suspects, but only 158 were prosecuted. And only 15% of the 60 suspects tried at the Crown Court in the same period were convicted.
Understandably women’s support groups are concerned at this drop. The PPS argues that one of the reasons is the increased volume and complexity of cases which it deals with. A welcome development has been the establishment of a dedicated team of senior prosecutors helping to build cases, support victims and robustly and fairly try cases.
The whole area of how rape victims are dealt with by the legal system is currently being reviewed by Sir John Gillen. It follows the furore that surrounded the trial of two Ulster Rugby stars on rape charges and two of their friends on associated charges. All four were unanimously acquitted by the jury, but concerns were raised over how the complainant’s name was revealed illegally on social media and on other comments made on those platforms.
Sir John is looking at how cases can be streamlined — currently they can take nearly 1,000 days to come to trial — and how complainants can be better supported, including having their own lawyers and having their evidence and cross-examination presented to the jury on video rather than enduring the trauma of the witness box. Barring the public, but not the Press, from trials and giving anonymity to defendants are other proposals in his consultation document to be published next month. The hope is that more complainants will be encouraged to come forward, a vital first step on the road to justice.