Decision to scrap not proven verdict backed by rape crisis charity
The decision to abolish the controversial not proven verdict in Scotland has been welcomed by a national rape crisis helpline.
It comes as the Scottish government announced sweeping reforms to the country’s justice system which would also see juries reduced from 15 to 12 in criminal cases.
Not proven is one of the three verdicts that can be delivered in Scottish courts alongside guilty and not guilty.
Defenders of the verdict say that it provides extra protection to an accused if a jury has doubts.
But opponents are in favour of scrapping it, especially since rape and attempted rape trials are far more likely to end in a not proven verdict.
The chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland Sandy Brindley said: “This is an important and landmark bill.
“We know that rape has got the lowest conviction rate of any crime type and that the process can be incredibly traumatic for people who go through it, so change is badly needed.”
Police received 2,176 reports of rapes and attempted rapes in 2020/21, but only 152 prosecutions and just 78 convictions were issued.
The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill will also provide automatic lifelong anonymity for victims of sexual offences and establish a specialist court for sex cases.
A pilot scheme will be launched that would see rape and attempted rape trials be held without a jury.
“These are all necessary and important changes and potentially it could transform responses to rape in Scotland,” Ms Brindley added.
In the eyes of the law, not proven is the same as not guilty and the accused is seen as innocent.
The verdict, which has been a unique part of Scots law since the 17th century, is also opposed by some legal experts.
Fiona Leverick, senior lecturer in law at Glasgow University, said: “It is an acquittal verdict with a stigma attached—it leaves doubt in the minds of the public as to whether or not the accused really is innocent.
“I was one of the researchers involved in the Scottish government-funded Scottish Jury Research.
“We ran 64 realistic mock juries and we found that jurors did not understand the not proven verdict or what it meant.
“And we also found that jurors used it as a cop-out or compromise verdict to avoid further difficult deliberation. None of this evidence was available before now.”
However, the proposal is not perfect according to campaigners.
Rape Crisis Scotland shared their concerns about changes to jury majorities, which may have an impact on jury convictions.
At least eight of the 12 jurors will have to find an accused guilty for them to be convicted rather than the current majority of eight from 15.
