Let rape victims record evidence, says law chief

MORE rape victims should be allowed to pre-record evidence to avoid going to court for trial, the director of public prosecutions has suggested.

Max Hill wants to see the practice expanded among victims.

He spoke as the Crown Prosecution Service unveiled a five-year strategy to improve rape prosecution figures.

Police and prosecutors faced criticism earlier this month after it was revealed that just 1.4 per cent of recorded rape cases ended with a prosecution in the year to March.

Mr Hill said: “In some cases you can streamline the process by pre-recording the evidence that a witness will give in a police video interview and then through cross-examination by advocates on a date before the trial so that the victim doesn’t need to attend trial.

“I do think there’s a need for us to look again at those provisions, and to

Man with a plan... Director Max Hill said that the CPS will use a new five-year strategy to help improve overall figures

broaden the number of categories of people who should be entitled to submit to pre-recorded cross-examination rather than waiting a long time in order to attend trial.

“So to expand beyond the current definition of vulnerable witnesses into more categories of people is something I think we should be looking at.

“Given the national emergency due to Covid-19 and the pressure on the system it could only help us to deal with the the system.”

Mr Hill admitted that the proportion of rape cases leading to a prosecution remained low as the country went into lockdown, but said that it had risen in recent months.

He added: “Here we are reporting on the final quarter of the financial year 2019/20. We all know that takes us into the coronavirus national emergency era, and we all therefore have to predict that there will continue to be a problem in absolute numbers.

“But what I am encouraged by in this reporting quarter is that the trends are moving in the right direction.

“That means in particular the proportion of cases that are brought to the CPS by the police that we are able to charge, to take to court, continues to rise.”

The newly released CPS strategy includes a joint action plan with police, giving officers legal advice early in investigations. backlog of cases in