Rape trials without a jury ‘will go ahead’ despite boycott

SCOTLAND’S justice secretary has insisted plans for juryless rape trials will go ahead even though the scheme is facing a national boycott from defence lawyers.

Angela Constance insisted yesterday that the SNP plans for a pilot scheme, in which defendants are tried by a single judge, will go ahead despite a mounting backlash from the legal profession over the proposals.

Some feminist campaigners have claimed that juryless trials are needed because of widespread belief in sexist “rape myths” among the public, which cause them to wrongly acquit predators.

However, criminal lawyers north of the border have insisted there is nothing wrong with the jury system and that plans designed to artificially drive up conviction rates will risk major miscarriages of justice.

Bar associations in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have vowed to boycott any pilot, with more bodies across Scotland rapidly joining them.

However, Ms Constance insisted that the proposals, planned as part of a wider shake-up of the Scottish justice system in which the non-proven verdict would be scrapped, would not be dropped.

“The legal profession is not a homogeneous group. There are a range of voices in the legal establishment,” she said.

“I am of course disappointed that some criminal defence lawyers disagree with Lady Dorrian, the second most senior judge in the land, who made a recommendation for a pilot.

“I am determined to proceed in partnership … we are at the very start of a journey and Parliament will have to listen to all the voices and views, not just within our legal profession.”