Defence lawyers welcome Government’s ‘humiliating U-turn’ on juryless trials

The Scottish Government’s decision to drop it proposal for juryless rape trials has been branded a “humiliating U-turn” by the body representing defence lawyers.

The plans for a pilot scheme were opposed by the majority of the legal profession, with the Law Society saying they undermined a “basic right” to trial by jury for serious crimes.

Under the proposed pilot, a single judge or possibly a panel would have provided a verdict in certain rape cases rather than a jury.

On Thursday, Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced the plans will not go ahead, saying it is clear they do not have cross-party support.

Posting on social media, the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association described the move as a “humiliating U-turn”

It said: “We are enormously proud of our efforts in defeating this dangerous proposal.

“The government resent us, hold us in contempt but never again should they underestimate us.

“Our opposition was a principled campaign based on a simple premise: either all of us matter or none of us matter.

“Once you start taking away some people’s rights, it never ends there.”

Roddy Dunlop KC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, also said he was “very pleased” to see the proposal being axed.

John Mulholland, convener of the Law Society’s public policy committee, said the decisions should have come sooner.

He said: “It’s unfortunate that we’ve had to wait so long for this decision to be reached, as so much time has been spent on this plan at the expense of other complex parts of the Bill.

“We will now be turning our full attention to the remaining concerning provisions.”

The underlying reason behind the pilot was the prevalence of “rape myths” among jurors and the influence these could have on verdicts.

In January, one of Scotland’s most senior judges, Lady Dorrian, said such a pilot would provide valuable evidence.

Previous first minister Humza Yousaf said his government was “absolutely committed to a pilot”.

It was not expected to take place before the end of 2028, after other elements of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill had come into force.

The Bill passed its stage one vote in the Scottish Parliament in April, but almost half of MSPs abstained on the legislation – including some SNP members.

Ms Constance updated MSPs on Thursday about changes she is making to the Bill.

She said: “I want to build as much consensus as possible for this important legislation.

“Clearly there is not enough parliamentary support at this time for the proposal to enable a time-limited pilot of single-judge trials for cases of rape and attempted rape, so we will no longer pursue this.

“I remain concerned by the substantial evidence that juries may be influenced by rape myths and I will introduce amendments to the Bill to allow for more detailed research into jury deliberations.

“We will undertake further work with justice partners to agree how to challenge and reduce the impact of rape myths.

“This might include, for example, further interventions or educational resources for jurors and the wider public.”

Other measures in the Bill, including the removal of the not proven verdict, will go ahead.

In line with the Justice Committee’s recommendations, proposals to cut the size of juries from 15 to 12 will be dropped.

Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said “These misguided proposals did not have the support of much of the justice sector and did not deal with the aspects of the justice system that many women find traumatising.

“The SNP Government was right to drop these plans.

“The Government must now take steps to reduce court delays, bring in a single-point of contact for rape survivors, and focus on ensuring that our justice system works for victims protects women.”