
End ‘bad character’ evidence in rape cases, experts say
The government has today (7th May 2025) introduced a new Victims and Courts Bill aiming to...
In a Law Gazette article published yesterday (13th November) and subsequent Newsnight programme it was revealed that the CPS had hidden performance targets linked to conviction rates. A CPS spokesperson acknowledged that the targets on staff between 2016 and 2018 that were ‘not appropriate’ and may have acted as a ‘perverse incentive’ on prosecutors, deterring them from charging less straightforward cases. That is because conviction rates can be ‘gamed’ by prosecuting smaller numbers of stronger cases and dropping weaker ones.
Rebecca Hitchen, Campaigns Manager at EVAW says: