Rape Review Findings Put Forward

Significant changes are being proposed to the way rape cases in Scotland are investigated and prosecuted. The percentage of cases leading to convictions has fallen to one of the lowest rates in the world.

In the past nine years the number of rapes reported in Scotland has almost doubled to 900. But the number of successful convictions is below 40. Solicitor-General Elish Angiolini will tell MSPs a review she ordered has come up with 50 recommendations.

They include changes in the way police interview alleged victims and gather evidence and how prosecutors deal with them leading up to trial.

There is also a recommendation for specialist training to be given to every Crown Office lawyer likely to encounter rape cases, to broaden their understanding of rape and sex offences. The aim is to ensure victims feel supported.

The review, led by a senior procurator fiscal, was set up by Ms Angiolini in 2004 to look at all aspects of rape cases, from the point where police submit their report through to prosecution and trial.

It was the result of public concerns at the way rape and sex offences were handled by the criminal justice system and from a recognition by prosecutors of the particular problems posed by rape cases, such as the question of consent.

Only 6% of women who report rapes to police will see a successful prosecution in court. But the Crown Office says that of those cases taken to court, 85% have a successful outcome.

Figures made public earlier this month showed that of the 900 reports of rape in Scotland, only 39 led to convictions. In 2004-05, 130 were reported in Edinburgh, 129 in Glasgow and 32 in Aberdeen. There were 37 reports to police in Dundee and 12 in Stirling.

Next year, the Scottish Law Commission is likely to recommend changes in the definition of rape. It is also considering the possibility of removing the need for corroboration in a crime almost always carried out without independent witnesses.

The commission said recent court cases had led to a perception among the public and professionals that the present law was in a state of confusion. In a discussion paper in January it stressed the need for the law to apply equally for men and women, and for there to be a legal definition of consent.