Rape and sexual harassment victims Those who have fallen criminal cases may now request to review their matters as part of the pilot scheme.
Launching in West Midlands on Friday, the six -month test will give the victims the right to request that their case be reviewed by a separate prosecutor, in which as part of the reforms under the reforms Labor pledge to reduce violence against women and girls.
Come after change A woman successfully sued Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) The case of her rape was dropped on the eve of her trial, after defense she suggested that she was suffering from the rare situation “Sex Somnia”.
Z Blue McCrocen-Nedarkot stated that she “had thwarted deeply and went down when her case was dropped, and described the new review plan as” significant security “.
After waking up in 2017, she contacted the police and realized that she was sleeping.
But the allegations were removed before the test three years later, as the lawyers claimed that Ms. McCrocen-Nedarkot had “sex psomnia”, a medicalally recognized but rare sleep disorder that causes a person to engage in sexual acts at bedtime.
The CPS later admitted that the closure of the case was wrong, saying that it should have been taken for testing, and apologized last year and agreed to pay £ 35,000 in the loss.
Ms. McCrocen-Nedarkot said she was “very excited” about the new pilot, saying: “This pilot is an important security guard-one who could have completely changed the result in my case, and many other people could like it.
“I failed deeply and how my case was handled, but I have seen people within CP who are actually working to improve it.”
While current procedures allow rape and severe sexual harassment victims to review their cases, if that case has already been stopped in court by prosecutors, it cannot be resumed, whether it is the result of review.
CPS lead for rape and main crown prosecutor of CPS West Midlands, CPS lead said: “We know for rape victims, their possibility of stopping their case may be absolutely disastrous.
“Although they can now request our decision -making review, if we have already stopped the case in the court, there is nothing that can be done to re -activate the case. If this review comes to a different conclusion. In those circumstances, we offer an forgiveness, but appreciate that for a victim, a forgiveness is rarely felt.
“This gives maximum assurance to the pilot victims. This means that they will be alerted to the possibility of their case to be stopped in advance, so that they can ask for a review by a separate prosecutor. If the original decision is reversed, the matter will continue, but even if it may not, we hope that the victims would have more confidence in the process and have been investigated earlier.
“Rape cases are incredibly complex and sensitive. We have specially trained prosecutors who build an excellent job in strong cases. This pilot provides earlier investigations and balance, which provides additional assurance to the victims.”
