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 13 May 2008 13:14 BST

Drive to increase rape convictions

Wednesday, 29 Mar 2006 11:02
Drive to increase rape convictions
The government wants to change the law in an effort to ensure more rapists are successfully convicted, the solicitor general has revealed today.

Among the reforms mooted, specialist trauma experts may be allowed to give evidence at court and victims may be permitted to give recorded evidence rather than face their attacker at trial.

The law of consent would also be redefined to make it easier for juries to decide if a woman was too drunk to agree to sex.

Solicitor general Mike O'Brien claims that the number of complaints about rape has gone up "quite sharply" but the number of convictions has risen only "very slightly".

Speaking on the Today programme this morning, Mr O'Brien said that only between three per cent and nine per cent of rape claims were "vexatious" – when the case has been instituted maliciously and without probable cause.

That suggests, he argues, that "an awful lot of people who are committing rapes are getting away with it" and is the reason why the government wants to overhaul the current system.

"We're looking at a range of measures on which the government is proposing to consult," he said.

"[We are looking at] enabling general expert evidence on the psychological impact [of rape], things like rape syndrome, as it's called, and post-traumatic stress disorder. That can cause a delay in the reporting of the rape and therefore we can bring expert evidence on why this might occur.

"Also we're looking at allowing adult victims of rape to have video recorded evidence in trials. Also whether there's a need to define a law on the complainant's capacity to give consent where drink or drugs were involved, so, as happened in 81 per cent of cases, where the victim has consumed alcohol."

But the solicitor general rejected the suggestion that a man could have to produce some sort of document to show consent had been given.

"That would be nonsense," he said. "What we need to do is make sure that where alcohol has been consumed and it's affected the capacity of the victim, then that matter should be put before the jury."

But some members of the legal community have expressed concern about the proposals, with retired judge Gerald Butler QC telling the BBC that they are likely to be ineffective.

He said: "You have the word against word and very often not much else. And tinkering at the edges with this is not going to do very much."

At present only about six per cent of rape cases in England and Wales result in convictions.track End of story

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