Left in the dark

NOT PROVEN VERDICT IN THE DOCK HUMZA YOUSAF

RECENTLY, I sat down with 12 brave women who told me what it is like to seek justice after reporting a rape to the police.

All of their stories were deeply moving and I was humbled by their willingness to speak up.

In many cases, the women I talked to believed their experience of the criminal justice process would have been easier to handle if they had been given more practical support and advice.

Often, they highlighted the need for better information. More than one described how being left in the dark about how her case was progressing left her feeling powerless and unable to move on with her life.

Others, however, raised wider concerns about how juries make decisions and the verdicts available.

On Wednesday, the Scottish Government published research into decision making in Scotland’s unique jury system. We are the only English-speaking country to have three verdicts – guilty, not guilty and not proven – and each jury has 15 members with verdicts returned by a simple majority.

The not proven verdict has long been a source of controversy and a number of attempts have been made to abolish it.

This research will allow us, for the first time, to have a nationwide discussion informed by the evidence and consider whether changes are needed.

I am clear that any future reforms must of course still ensure that our justice system remains fair and balanced to all involved.

So our next step will be to set up engagement events across the country. As part of that, I really want to hear from people with personal experience of the justice system, including victims and the accused.

One improvement recommended by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research is that police statements of victims of sexual crime should be video recorded.

The Scottish Government is supporting a pilot, launching on November 1, which will be run by Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Rape Crisis Scotland. A number of victim statements will be visually recorded using specially-trained police officers. If successful, it could potentially reduce the need for adult victims of rape and attempted rape to recount their ordeal in court.

I made a commitment to the 12 women I met that we will continue making the improvements victims deserve.

I am proud we are making progress but we must keep the momentum going to make sure the kind of stories I heard from those survivors become a thing of the past. TWELVE female rape victims met Humza Yousaf to discuss the not proven verdict and how handling complaints could improve. They told the Justice Secretary they felt “left in the dark” after reporting to police and were concerned about Scotland’s not proven verdict. Yousaf said: “More than one described how being left in the dark about how her case was progressing left her feeling unable to move on with her life. “Others, however, raised wider concerns about how juries make decisions and the verdicts available.” It comes after results published this week from the UK’s largest study of juries showed confusion surrounds Scotland’s controversial third verdict. The study set up 64 mock juries made BY ANNIE BROWN up of 863 individuals and showed them two finely-balanced trials, one an assault, the other a rape case.

The legal implications of a not proven verdict are the same as with a not guilty verdict, with the accused acquitted and innocent in the eyes of the law.

But only 51 per cent of all jurors felt they “fully understood” the not proven verdict, which is used disproportionately in rape cases.

In 2016-17, only 39 per cent of rape and attempted rape cases resulted in convictions, the lowest rate for any type of crime.

Nearly 30 per cent of acquittals were not proven, compared with 17 per cent for all crimes.

Yousaf said: “I will give serious consideration to the questions posed by the research – including moving from a three-verdict system to a two-verdict system.

“While this is not an area where any change could happen overnight, it is one part of our work to make Scotland’s justice system better for all, including victims of rape and sexual assault.”

The research also confirmed that jurors are still guided in rape cases by myths over how