Quote Originally Posted by Donatien
While they conclude there was some evidence of poor investigation and lack of understanding of the law, the main problem was the culture of scepticism among both the police and prosecutors.
The problem for the police and prosecutors is that despite the word 'Justice' featuring so prominantly in the term 'Criminal and Justice System' the criminal justice system is not about justice but about the law. The law has to deal with facts and not opinions. An accused is found guilty on the facts of the evidence and not on the belief as to whether a crime has been committed or not. Rape, I believe I am right in saying, is one of the few crimes where a crime can take place without there being any evidence ie. she denies consent, he says she consented. The material evidence other than significant violence is neutral. The courts don't have the wisdom of Solomon. This has led to questions as to whether the court system is the right way to deal with rape. The question then arises of course, is how do you deal with rape? Certainly the court system is letting women down but there have also been gross miscarriages of justice for men too, though not as significant in numbers as the injustice to women. However, every individual wronged, is a personal trauma experienced.

The question still remains, is the blanket charge of rape one of the reasons why there are so few convictions? I know this question is emotive but as I pointed out before, we do not have a blanket charge for killing by calling all killings murder and to do so would reduce convictions of murder.

I just ask, I am not advocating.