Prosecutors in rape cases will meet complainants face-to-face if defendants plead not guilty, under new plans designed to cut the number of women who withdraw from the trial process. The number of rape prosecutions in England and Wales dropped by 70 percent between 2017 and 2022 and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is concerned about…

An independent inquiry into how the justice system handled rape allegations made by former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins will hold its first public hearing. The ACT government established the inquiry after accusations by police and prosecutors about each other’s conduct during the case against Higgins’ former colleague Bruce Lehrmann. Former Queensland solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff…

The opposition Labour Party has said it would introduce minimum sentences of seven years in prison for rape, while also promising to introduce specialist rape courts and a domestic violence register. Shadow justice minister Ellie Reeves said that if elected, Labour would bring in minimum sentences for rape for the first time, while repeating an…

Too many inexperienced and junior prosecutors are being thrown in at the deep end and asked to take on rape and sexual assault cases, according to the man responsible for inspecting the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales. In an interview with The Times of London, Andrew Cayley, KC, chief inspector of the…