Grasp the nettle and back stand-alone sex offences court, Constance urges MSPs
Justice Secretary Angela Constance has urged MSPs to “grasp the nettle” and back Scottish Government plans to set up a stand-alone court to prosecute sexual offences.
The measure has been proposed by SNP ministers in a bid to improve poor conviction rates for such offences, but a Holyrood committee was divided about whether the change should go ahead.
Four SNP MSPs on the Criminal Justice Committee back the proposal, but Labour and Conservative members have raised concerns that a “new specialist court will not in itself achieve a meaningful improvement to the experience of victims”.
Ms Constance told the committee victims of sex offences have made clear “tinkering around the edges” of the system is not enough.
She urged MSPs to back the “wholesale reform to the management of sexual offence cases by supporting the creation of a stand-alone court”.
I do urge committee members to grasp the nettle by embracing wholesale reform to the management of sexual offence cases by supporting the creation of a stand-alone court
The minister also promised to bring forward a “significant package of amendments” to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill to address issues raised over the proposed stand-alone court.
She said she is “confident” these will address “concerns” raised by the committee.
She said victims have said a stand-alone court is “necessary” to improve their experience.
The Justice Secretary added: “They have made clear tinkering around the edges will simply be insufficient.
“I do urge committee members to grasp the nettle by embracing wholesale reform to the management of sexual offence cases by supporting the creation of a stand-alone court.”
Under the Scottish Government’s plans, lawyers and judges would require specialist training before taking cases in the new court, which would have the same sentencing powers as the High Court.
MSPs opposed to the move have said they believe “necessary improvements” in the prosecution of sexual offences can be achieved in other ways.
With the Justice Secretary having already ditched plans to pilot judge-only trials for those accused of rape and attempted rape, she told the committee she now plans to change the law to allow research to be carried out into the impact of so-called “rape myths” on juries when they consider their verdicts.
The current low conviction rates for rape and similar offences “are a stark symptom of a system which is not operating effectively for some of the most serious and gendered crimes”, the Justice Secretary said.
She said she wants to change the Bill to “remove the barriers to conducting research on jury deliberations, to help us better understand the impact of rape myths on decision making”.
The minister said the changes will allow “research into real jury deliberations”, although she stressed “appropriate safeguards” will be put in place.
Ms Constance added this will “pave the way for the gathering of more valuable insights than are possible under the current legislative framework”.
She went on to tell MSPs that ending the “archaic not proven verdict” – another measure included in the legislation – means other reforms are needed to the jury system.
Ms Constance said: “My assessment is we cannot abolish not proven in isolation without impacting the balance of fairness in our system.”
As a result, the Government proposes keeping 15 people on juries in Scotland, but instead of only needing a simple majority of eight to support a conviction, the legislation will require 10 – two-thirds of juries – for an accused person to be found guilty.
Without this change, Ms Constance said there is a risk of “miscarriages of justice”.
She stressed the need for reform in Scotland’s justice system, saying “incremental changes over the years” have “delivered improvements”, but added: “The dial has not shifted enough and the scale of reform needed cannot be delivered through existing structures and processes.
“The Bill sets out a package of reforms which have the potential, if passed, to transform the operation of the justice system to the benefit of victims, particularly women, while protecting the rights of the accused.”
