Right to be informed in rape cases that must be enforced

VER the past 20 years, Scotland has made significant progress in the way it deals with those who allege they have been raped or are victims of domestic abuse.

Both the alleged victim and the accused deserve fair and equal access to justice but, with the system often stacked against the complainer in such cases, tweaks to the police and legal processes have at least gone some way towards redressing the balance, though conviction rates remain low.

With this in mind, it is surprising and disheartening to learn that alleged victims are not being routinely informed that they can challenge legal moves to reveal their medical history in court.

A landmark ruling earlier this year in the Court of Session resulted in measures being put in place by the Scottish Government to allow all complainers in these cases access to legal aid.

But it appears that no formal process has been put in place to inform them of their rights in this matter and, as a result, only three applications for state funding have been made against medical records being accessed since February.

One victim of rape who successfully challenged the use of her records has bravely spoken in these pages of her shock and upset at finding out her attacker – who was convicted of raping her – had sought access to her personal records.

She says that, if it was not for staff at Women’s Aid, she would not have even known about her right to challenge such an application: the charity also paid for an advocate to represent her.

Surely it is incumbent on all those involved in the legal process – police, solicitors, perhaps even doctors – to inform alleged victims that they can challenge such applications. Such evidence, after all, can have a significant bearing on verdicts.

For justice to be served, all those involved must be fully aware of their rights.