The Scottish government’s reasoning was that while the conviction for most crimes sits around 90%, for rape it is much lower at about 50%.
It believed this was due to jurors often being swayed by “rape myths” – outdated attitudes that prejudice how they view the case and whether or not they believe the alleged victim is telling the truth about not having consented.
Among these beliefs are that genuine victims would try to fight off or escape an attacker, that they would immediately report the crime to the police rather than waiting months or even years to tell anyone, and that they should behave emotionally in court.
The justice secretary Angela Constance previously said there was a “compelling body of evidence” that jurors were being influenced in their verdicts by these myths.
Senior judge Lady Dorrian examined the issue and suggested the pilot scheme be trialled, in the belief that judges would be less likely to be influenced by such attitudes.
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