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Our response to the Stage One Report on the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill

The Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee has published its Stage One report on the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill.

This presents a significant step towards making navigating Scotland’s criminal justice system easier for survivors of sexual violence. This report has been informed by the experiences of survivors, who have shown huge courage in sharing their experiences and views with the Committee, which are present throughout this report, and our thanks go to them. We also welcome the robust consideration the Committee has given this report, and how seriously they have considered the contributions and evidence of survivors.

We are pleased that the Committee is supportive of the Bill’s proposal to scrap the Not Proven verdict. There is considerable evidence that juries can be reluctant to convict in rape cases. There are real worries that the existence of the Not Proven verdict gives juries in rape trials an ‘easy out’ and contributes to guilty perpetrators walking free. We have spoken to many survivors whose cases received a verdict of ‘Not Proven’ and were left feeling confused and let down.

We also welcome the Committee’s commitment to introducing Independent Legal Representation where applications are made to introduce evidence about a complainer's sexual history and character, and a legal right to anonymity for rape complainers. The prospect of having your sexual history brought up in court can be extremely distressing, and it is crucial that complainers can access free legal representation to help them to protect their privacy.

The right to lifelong anonymity will give survivors in Scotland the same crucial right to privacy as survivors in England and Wales.

It is disappointing to see the split in the Committee on the judge led pilot. There is overwhelming evidence about the impact of rape myths on jury decision making. These are deeply ingrained views about what a ‘real’ rape is or how a ‘real’ victim would look or behave. There is a real perception among jury members that ‘false allegations are routine’ and that delay in reporting, and/or a lack of physical injury is indicative of a false allegation. It is clear that action is required.

We had grave concerns about the Bill’s proposal to increase the proportion of jurors required for a conviction. Conviction rates for rape are already the lowest of any crime type in Scotland. It would be devastating if a bill introduced with the aim of improving complainers’ experiences of the justice process actually made it more difficult to access justice after rape. This is what the change in jury majority would have meant, and we are very relieved to see the Committee reject this.

That these significant reforms are making their way through the Scottish Parliament is testament to decades of tireless campaigning from survivors and we would like to be tribute to their work and courage. This bill has the potential to transform the experience of seeking justice after sexual violence, and we hope the Parliament will consider the report very seriously.