LAWYERS have voiced their opposition to proposals for juryless trials in serious sex crime cases.
A cross-justice review group has recommended that a new specialist court which operates with “trauma-informed” practices and procedures should be created to deal with such cases in Scotland.
The review group was principally tasked with improving the experience of complainers in sexual offence cases within the Scottish court system, without compromising the rights of the accused. One of its recommendations is that consideration should be given to developing a time-limited pilot of single-judge rape trials to ascertain their effectiveness and how they are perceived by complainers, accused people and lawyers.
The Scottish Criminal Bar Association (SCBA) has raised concerns about the proposal.
Its president, Tony Lenehan, said: “Any real improvement in the process of delivering justice is welcomed but the voice of the unjustly accused should be heard as loudly as any other group. Innocent men and women end up in the same dock as the guilty every day of every week. Our citizens form sensible, balanced and experienced decision-making juries who separate the guilty from the rest with care.
“The degradation of public confidence in justice that juryless trials would bring was recognised last year. We are steadfast in our long considered opposition to such a step.”
The report said the review group was “strongly divided” on the issue of single-judge sexual offences trials.
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