The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition has launched a legal challenge against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over an alleged covert change in policy that has led to a dramatic drop in rape charges. On Tuesday, the group lodged proceedings in the High Court, arguing that internal practices have effectively decriminalised rape.
Last year, the Guardian reported that a CPS training session encouraged prosecutors to remove weak cases to improve conviction rates. EVAW claims this has caused charges to fall by 38% and convictions by 26% between 2017–18 and 2018–19. The judicial review will argue that the CPS's actions discriminate against women and girls and violate their human rights.
The CPS denies any policy change, stating that charging decisions are based solely on the legal tests in the code for crown prosecutors. A spokesperson said: 'There has been no change of policy in how the CPS makes charging decisions in rape cases.' The CPS also cited fewer police referrals and the increased need to examine digital evidence from complainants' phones as factors behind the decline.
Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women's Justice, which is representing EVAW, said: 'We have undertaken a major research and evidence gathering exercise and have presented a large mass of compelling evidence from a range of sources… which together show that a small cultural shift at the top of the CPS has had a butterfly effect.'
The legal action comes as CPS figures confirm rape prosecutions are at their lowest in over a decade. EVAW campaigns manager Rebecca Hitchens said: 'Every day survivors of rape are being failed by a criminal justice system which appears to have effectively decriminalised rape.'
