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Changes announced by the Sottish Government to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill

The Scottish Government have today announced significant changes to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill which is currently going through the Scottish Parliament.

The most significant of these changes is dropping the judge-led pilot, where rape trials were to be heard in front of a single judge, rather than a jury. This pilot was recommended in Lady Dorrian’s review of the management of sexual offence cases.

The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill presents the biggest chance to improve how sexual offences are handled in Scotland for over a century. Change is urgently needed, and we’re hopeful that this Bill will help to bring about real change for survivors.

We’re disappointed that a pilot of judge-led trials, a significant part of the bill, has been dropped.

There is overwhelming evidence about the impact of rape myths on jury decision making. These myths relate to false assumptions about the nature of rape, and how someone may behave during or after a rape.

The Scottish Government are introducing a new provision to the Bill to amend the Contempt of Court Act. The Act currently prohibits asking juries members about their deliberations. The proposed amendment would allow for research to be carried out with juries in certain circumstances. This is a very positive step as it will help us understand what actually happens in jury decision making in rape cases, where the conviction rate is the lowest of any crime type. We remain extremely concerned about the impact of provision in the Bill which would increase the jury majority required for conviction – we believe this is likely to make it more difficult to secure convictions in rape cases.

The Bill still presents major changes which we hope will improve survivors’ experiences of the justice system. These include scrapping the Not Proven verdict, which is disproportionately used in rape cases and can leave survivors feeling confused and let down; and introducing independent legal representation for survivors where attempts are made to introduce evidence about a survivor’s sexual history or character.

That these reforms are progressing through the Scottish Parliament is thanks to the tireless campaigning of many survivors, who have spoken out for change, and we want to pay tribute to their work and courage.

The Bill is likely to return to Parliament for Stage Two next year.