In this article, first published on the Halsbury’s Law Exchange blog, Felicity Gerry responds to questions about whether advocates are doing enough to look after victims in sensitive cases
Last week I was asked to take part in a radio programme featuring a discussion which I was told was about ‘Rape trials: What needs to change?’ I couldn’t go as, ironically, I was in court making a prosecution speech in a rape. It occurred to me that the title was a loaded one, especially when three out of five rape trials result in conviction. These statistics, released by the Crown Prosecution Service, tend to suggest that, broadly speaking, rape trials are being conducted fairly. I was also told that the producer wanted to look at what has changed since Baroness Stern’s review and recommendations.
