Rape sufferers can problem CPS if instances dropped beneath pilot scheme

Victims of rape and critical sexual attack who face their instances being dropped by means of the Crown Prosecution Service will likely be given the correct to request a assessment beneath a central authority pilot.

The six-month scheme, which is able to release on Friday within the West Midlands, will give sufferers the correct to invite for his or her case to be reviewed by means of a distinct prosecutor if the CPS signifies it intends to supply no proof.

The reform is subsidized by means of the lawyer common and solicitor common and paperwork a part of the federal government’s pledge to halve violence in opposition to girls and women.

Campaigners have lengthy known as for the alternate. Criminal instances can also be stopped at any level if a prosecutor comes to a decision there’s no longer a practical prospect of conviction, however this reform strengthens the correct of sufferers to problem the verdict.

Though a proper to study already exists, it can’t be exercised when the case has been stopped in court docket. Under the phrases of the pilot, for the primary time sufferers of rape or critical sexual abuse will likely be introduced the correct to request a assessment by means of a distinct prosecutor sooner than their case is dropped. If that prosecutor determines there’s sufficient proof, the case will proceed.

If the trial is a success within the West Midlands, ministers may just prolong it throughout England and Wales.

Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, a justice reform campaigner who gained reimbursement from the CPS after her rape case was once dropped amid claims she can have had an episode of “sexsomnia”, stated the pilot was once “a hugely important step in the right direction”.

“After my own case was closed due to a controversial ‘sexsomnia’ defence, I used the victims’ right to review – only to be told that, despite the CPS admitting a mistake, it was too late to reopen the case because they’d already offered no evidence in court. That experience was devastating,” she stated.

“I’ve spent nearly three years campaigning behind the scenes for this exact change: for victims to have the opportunity to request a second review before a case is shut down.”

She added that, regardless of its failure in her case, the CPS had proven a willingness to mirror and alter and that her “faith in the agencies that once failed me is slowly being restored”.

Ministers hope the alternate will assist construct consider within the justice machine, which has been eroded by means of long ready occasions. In newest quarterly crime knowledge launched by means of the Ministry of Justice working to December 2024, rape and sexual offences had reached a report prime within the crown court docket’s backlog.

The selection of sexual offences ready to visit the crown court docket was once 11,981, up by means of 41% in two years. There have been 3,489 grownup rape instances ready to visit trial, an build up of 70% in two years.

According to figures printed by means of Rape Crisis, fewer than 3 in 100 rapes recorded by means of police in 2024 ended in somebody being charged that very same 12 months. Adult rape instances take a mean of 2 years to finish in court docket, with many taking a ways longer.

The pilot was once welcomed by means of the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Centre for Women’s Justice. Helen Newlove, the sufferers’ commissioner for England and Wales, stated it was once “a first step toward ending a manifestly unfair practice that denied victims a voice and robbed them of justice”.

Lucy Rigby, the solicitor common, stated: “This government is treating violence against women and girls with the seriousness it deserves. Part of that is about empowering victims and improving their experience of the criminal justice system.”

Siobhan Blake, CPS lead for rape and leader crown prosecutor of CPS West Midlands, stated: “We know for rape victims, the prospect of their case being stopped can be absolutely devastating. Although they can request a review of our decision-making now, if we have already stopped the case in court, there is nothing that can be done to reactivate the case if that review comes to a different conclusion. In those circumstances we offer an apology, but appreciate that for a victim an apology rarely goes far enough or feels like a just outcome.

“This pilot offers greater reassurance for victims. It means that they will be alerted to the prospect of their case being stopped earlier, so that they can ask for a review by a different prosecutor. If the original decision is reversed, then the case will continue but even if it can’t we hope that victims will have more confidence in the process and the earlier scrutiny of our decision-making.”