Dozens of rapists could launch a ‘class action’ similar to the Post Office Horizon scandal in a bid to overturn their convictions, Scotland’s criminal cases watchdog has warned.
uncertain
watchdog → launch → convictions
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) has told courts, prosecutors, police and lawyers not to destroy files relating to sex offence cases amid expectations of a wave of appeals following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
asserted
Commission → tell → ruling
The request was made in anticipation of challenges by people convicted of rape and serious sexual offences dating back to 2013 after judges found the way Scotland’s ‘rape shield’ laws had been applied risked undermining an accused person’s right to a fair trial.
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laws → make → trial
The developments are revealed in correspondence obtained under freedom of information (FoI) legislation.
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developments → reveal → legislation
The spectre of the Post Office Horizon scandal has already been raised behind closed doors by officials grappling with the fallout from the Supreme Court ruling.
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spectre → raise → ruling
Papers show SCCRC officials discussed wrongful conviction ‘class actions’ such as the Horizon affair, in which hundreds of sub-postmasters successfully challenged convictions linked to faulty computer software.
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hundreds → show → software
The comparison is likely to fuel concerns about the scale of potential appeals after judges ruled that Scottish courts had taken an unlawfully restrictive approach to evidence in rape and serious sexual offence cases.
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courts → fuel → cases
Minutes of a meeting between the SCCRC and Scottish Government officials in March showed applications had risen to 15.
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applications → show → 15
The Mail can now reveal that figure has increased to more than 40.
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figure → reveal → 40
The SCCRC has said that it expects the number of those potentially affected by the Supreme Court decision to be ‘large’.
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number → say → decision
Fears have been raised that rapists could launch a 'class action' similar to the Post Office Horizon scandal
Sir Alan Bates, the sub postmaster who led the campaign to expose the Horizon scandal
Attendees at the meeting also discussed the experience of dealing with mass challenges to wrongful convictions, including the Post Office Horizon scandal.
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Attendees → raise → scandal
In a further letter released under FoI laws, SCCRC chief executive Michael Walker said that by August the number of applications seeking reviews of sex offence convictions had increased to 26.
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number → release → 26
The watchdog has now revealed that it has received a total of 44 applications linked to the Supreme Court ruling – a 69 per cent rise in two months.
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it → reveal → months
Of those, 18 have been rejected at an initial stage, while 14 have been accepted for a full review.
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14 → reject → review
A further 12 cases are still being assessed.
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cases → assess → ?
In a letter to senior civil servant Ann Donald, the Scottish Government’s deputy director for criminal justice, Mr Walker outlined plans to deal with what he expected could become a significant influx of applications.
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he → outline → applications
Writing in December last year, shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, Mr Walker said the commission had already received a handful of applications at that time, and that a number of existing cases would require to be reconsidered in light of the judgment.
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number → write → judgment
He noted that the Lord Advocate had publicly warned of appeals by people convicted of rape and other serious sexual offences from 2013 onwards.
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Advocate → note → 2013
Mr Walker wrote: ‘It is still difficult to predict just how many applications we’ll receive.’
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we → write → applications
He added that the SCCRC was preparing an operational plan to deal with the anticipated caseload.
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SCCRC → add → caseload
The correspondence also revealed the SCCRC had written to the Crown Agent, Chief Constable, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and Law Society of Scotland asking them to impose a moratorium on the destruction of papers in sexual offence cases.
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SCCRC → reveal → cases
The SCCRC said no cases have yet been referred back to the High Court following a full review.
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cases → say → review
Supreme Court judges said in November last year that rules which stop jurors finding out about an alleged victim’s sexual history should be relaxed to ensure the accused gets a fair trial.
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accused → say → trial
The Scottish Tories have previously said it was ‘an extremely unsettling and distressing situation for victims of rape and sexual violence’, while Rape Crisis Scotland said the ruling ‘will have a profound and distressing impact’ on survivors who ‘now find themselves in an incredibly uncertain position’.
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who → say → position
The judges made the controversial ruling after two sex offenders appealed on the basis their human rights had been breached because of the ‘rape shield’ legislation.
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rights → make → legislation
The judgment said the system should be changed and the blanket approach to excluding evidence regarding a complainer’s sexual history was too restrictive and a more nuanced approach was needed.
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approach → say → history
Scotland’s former top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, KC, has said previously that rape victims now face ‘renewed anxiety, alarm and distress’ as their attackers launch appeals.
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attackers → say → appeals
The Aporia
