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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/28/complainants-lawyers-to-challenge-cps-over-dropped-cases
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| Rape complainants' lawyers to challenge CPS over dropped cases | Rape complainants' lawyers to challenge CPS over dropped cases |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Lawyers for rape complainants who have been “failed” by the criminal justice system are preparing to launch a legal challenge against the Crown Prosecution Service, the Guardian has learned. | Lawyers for rape complainants who have been “failed” by the criminal justice system are preparing to launch a legal challenge against the Crown Prosecution Service, the Guardian has learned. |
| The Centre for Women’s Justice charity was compiling evidence that the CPS had dropped cases with strong evidence, often at the last minute, according to lawyers. | The Centre for Women’s Justice charity was compiling evidence that the CPS had dropped cases with strong evidence, often at the last minute, according to lawyers. |
| Harriet Wistrich – who successfully represented two victims of the serial rapist John Worboys in a recent human rights claim against the Metropolitan police – said the centre had a “small but growing dossier of cases” which she believed left the CPS exposed to legal challenge. The Guardian understands that a group of lawyers and experts on the issue of violence against women are meeting to discuss the challenge next week. | Harriet Wistrich – who successfully represented two victims of the serial rapist John Worboys in a recent human rights claim against the Metropolitan police – said the centre had a “small but growing dossier of cases” which she believed left the CPS exposed to legal challenge. The Guardian understands that a group of lawyers and experts on the issue of violence against women are meeting to discuss the challenge next week. |
| “We are hearing evidence from some women who have had their cases dropped, and you just wonder what on earth is going on,” Wistrich said. “Others appeared to have been dropped if there are any issues around social media or text messaging, without consultation with the complainant or any attempt to get their response or explanation around potentially difficult issues. | “We are hearing evidence from some women who have had their cases dropped, and you just wonder what on earth is going on,” Wistrich said. “Others appeared to have been dropped if there are any issues around social media or text messaging, without consultation with the complainant or any attempt to get their response or explanation around potentially difficult issues. |
| “This has huge implications for those women concerned, but also other women if the CPS are failing to prosecute potential serial offenders who attack again.” | “This has huge implications for those women concerned, but also other women if the CPS are failing to prosecute potential serial offenders who attack again.” |
| A future case could investigate whether the CPS conducted a “secret, potentially unlawful policy”, she said. “There are grounds for pushing either a judicial review or group claim for violation of the CPS’s duty under the Human Rights Act.” | A future case could investigate whether the CPS conducted a “secret, potentially unlawful policy”, she said. “There are grounds for pushing either a judicial review or group claim for violation of the CPS’s duty under the Human Rights Act.” |
| Nina Burrowes, a psychologist who was due to deliver a course to prosecutors about young women and intoxication before it was cancelled by the CPS, said she was so concerned about the apparent shift in direction at the organisation that she was reaching out to complainants whose cases had been dropped in the last year to help them “find a voice” through her group, the Consent Collective. | Nina Burrowes, a psychologist who was due to deliver a course to prosecutors about young women and intoxication before it was cancelled by the CPS, said she was so concerned about the apparent shift in direction at the organisation that she was reaching out to complainants whose cases had been dropped in the last year to help them “find a voice” through her group, the Consent Collective. |
| “It’s not just complainants who’ve been in touch with me,” Burrowes said. “It’s also other criminal justice professionals, such as police officers, who are frustrated when the CPS refuses to charge a case that they feel has real merit. | |
| “It’s incumbent on those of us who train prosecutors to learn about how the system is failing, so that we can help identify the ways in which it can improve. At the moment there’s plenty of room for improvement.” | |
| A broad coalition of women’s groups have called on the government to take urgent action in the wake of a series of Guardian stories exposing the crisis engulfing the criminal justice system over its approach to rape cases. | |
| The Guardian this week revealed that: | The Guardian this week revealed that: |
| Less than a third of prosecutions against young men that go to trial result in a conviction, a significantly lower percentage than older defendants | Less than a third of prosecutions against young men that go to trial result in a conviction, a significantly lower percentage than older defendants |
| Prosecutors in England and Wales have been urged to take a more risk-averse approach in rape cases and cancelled a training programme designed to help prosecutors in cases involving young women and intoxication | Prosecutors in England and Wales have been urged to take a more risk-averse approach in rape cases and cancelled a training programme designed to help prosecutors in cases involving young women and intoxication |
| Police are demanding almost unfettered access to highly personal records and data from potential rape victims before pressing ahead with their cases | Police are demanding almost unfettered access to highly personal records and data from potential rape victims before pressing ahead with their cases |
| Less than a third of prosecutions against young men that go to trial result in a conviction, a significantly lower percentage than older defendants | Less than a third of prosecutions against young men that go to trial result in a conviction, a significantly lower percentage than older defendants |
| Prosecutors in England and Wales have been urged to take a more risk-averse approach in rape cases and cancelled a training programme designed to help prosecutors in cases involving young women and intoxication | Prosecutors in England and Wales have been urged to take a more risk-averse approach in rape cases and cancelled a training programme designed to help prosecutors in cases involving young women and intoxication |
| Police are demanding almost unfettered access to highly personal records and data from potential rape victims before pressing ahead with their cases | Police are demanding almost unfettered access to highly personal records and data from potential rape victims before pressing ahead with their cases |
| On Wednesday, the CPS’s annual Violence Against Women and Girls report revealed a 23% drop in the number of rape cases being charged, the lowest figure in a decade. | |
| In a letter to the Guardian, 19 signatories – including Equality Now, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Southall Black Sister and Rape Crisis – said the fall in rape charges gave “enormous cause for concern when added to [the Guardian’s] investigations”. | |
| The letter called for an independent, end-to-end review of the treatment of rape in the justice system. It continued: “We are disappointed at the lack of political reaction to this and expect political leaders to ensure public confidence in the justice system, which is there to ensure the safety of all, including women and girls who have been raped and sexually abused.” | The letter called for an independent, end-to-end review of the treatment of rape in the justice system. It continued: “We are disappointed at the lack of political reaction to this and expect political leaders to ensure public confidence in the justice system, which is there to ensure the safety of all, including women and girls who have been raped and sexually abused.” |
| A CPS spokesperson said: “We never take lightly the decision to stop a prosecution as this can have a significant impact on a complainant. But if a case is reviewed and found to not have a realistic prospect of conviction then we cannot continue it. | |
| “Justice is served by ensuring the right person is prosecuted for the right offence, and that charging decisions are made solely on the merits of the evidence.” | “Justice is served by ensuring the right person is prosecuted for the right offence, and that charging decisions are made solely on the merits of the evidence.” |
| Crown Prosecution Service | Crown Prosecution Service |
| Rape and sexual assault | Rape and sexual assault |
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