Judge believed victims but could not convict attackers

 

Comment was made, "In most of those cases I have thought that the victim was probably telling the truth, but under the law that is not enough."

 

Judge Blackett also suggested that rape cases where understanding of consent is blurred, such as where both parties have consumed too much alcohol, should be tried as sexual assault.

 

Courts-martial differ significantly from civilian courts in that juries are comprised of "boards of service personnel of superior rank to the defendants". Successful prosecutions are consistently lower than criminal courts and are further on the decline.

 

Emma Norton, the Centre for Military Justice director, has been calling for cases of sexual assault and rape in the Armed Forces to be handled by civilian police, the CPS and the Crown Court. Mr Blackett says this would not solve the issue and says figures show that both the civilian and military "systems are struggling with the law".

 

Recent suggestions alledge that sexual assault victims of Armed Forces personnel are refusing to report their attackers because defendants are twice as likely to be cleared in military than criminal courts. In 2019, only 29 per cent of the 59 military personnel tried at court-martial for sexual offences were convicted. In the same year, 65 per cent of the 7,742 defendants who appeared before the criminal justice system for the same offences were convicted.

 

In a statement by the Ministry of Justice, "Rape victims need to know cases will be taken seriously and pursued rigorously through the courts, so offenders are brought to justice. We are reviewing our response to this horrific crime while investing millions to deliver speedier justice and fund support services."