RAPE ACQUITTALS
| Published date | 01 March 1980 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1980.tb01587.x |
| Author | C. Way,T. C. N. Gibbens,K. L. Soothill |
| Date | 01 March 1980 |
RAPE
ACQUITTALS
INTRODUCTION
UNTIL
recently the study of acquittals has been a neglected area in
criminology. Certainly there is no great incentive for correctional
agencies to interest themselves in the acquitted,
so
where they do
prompt research, it has understandably tended to be in relation to
their own captive populations. There has, however, been concern
recently voiced in several arenas that the
acquiftal
rate in criminal
cases is too high.l The debate has largely centred around the
possibility of too many professional criminals avoiding conviction,2
but there has been similar concern expressed by the public, the
media, and in Parliament, that this may be the case with some
serious sexual offenders.
For
example, the controversy
in
the
mid-1970s about the House
d
Lords decision in
R.
v.
Morgan
and
Others
that a man was entitled to be acquitted of rape if he believed
however unreasonably that a woman was consenting, probably arose
from the impression that the rapist, already very adequately
protected by the rules of evidence, had been given a degree of
protection amounting to a
“
rapists’ charter.” This decision which was
undoubtedly misunderstood by the non-legal public, led to the
Heilbron Committee being appointed to give urgent consideration to
the law
of
rape.‘ The Heilbron Committee recognised the point
“that there are wrongful acquittals in rape as well as in other
crimes, is beyond question,” but is there any evidence to suggest that
the acquittal rate is too high for some serious sexual offenders?
At this stage it is important to remind ourselves of Zander’s
impressive point that the question whether too many criminals are
acquitted is in itself a meaningless one and that
“
the feeling that it is too high is simply a political-social value
judgment reflecting some inarticulate sense that the system is
tipped too far in favour
of
the defence. Equally, the feeling that
the acquittal rate is about right reflects an equivalent political-
social value judgment that the balance between prosecution
and defence is approximately the right one. In neither case
can
one measure what the proportion is, against what
it
ought to
be.”
1
See the summary in Sanders,
“
Guilt, Innocence and Jury Acquittals” (1979)
The Howard Journal,
XVIII. 1. In contrast. Baldwin and McConville (1977)
Negoriafed Justice
are equally concerned about the high proportion
oP
guilty pleas.
2
Criminal Law Revision Committee, Eleventh
Report,
“
Evidence (General),”
Cmnd. 4991 (1972), para. 21: Mark,
“
Minority Verdict,”
The Listener,
November
8,
1973; Zander,
‘‘
Are too many professional criminals avoiding conviction? A study
in
Britain’s
two busiest courts” (1974) 37 M.L.R. 28; Mack (1976), “Full-time
major criminals and
the
courts
”
(1976) 39 M.L.R. 241.
8
(1975) 61 Cr.App.R. 136.
4
Report
of
the
Advisory
Group
on
the
Law
of
Rape,
HMSO, Cmnd. 6352.
6
Op.
n‘r.
Zander (1974). p.
60.
159
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