Lord Carloway says rape complainers ‘should not attend court’

Lord Carloway has said rape complainers should not be made to attend court.

Speaking to the BBC, the Lord President (pictured) said his “ultimate objective” was for alleged victims to be able to provide filmed statements within 24 hours.

He also said cross-examination should occur well before trial – and not in court.

However, defence lawyers have warned such moves could affect the fairness of a trial.

Lord Carloway said the current system was “particularly ineffective”.

He said: “The ultimate objective is to try to get a system in which, first of all, the complainer would get their complaint down as near as possible to the event.

“That would hopefully be, in many cases, within 24 hours of the matter being reported.

“If we can get an account at that time it then becomes a question of using it within the trial process.”

Lord Carloway thinks police officers should be allowed to film complainers’ original statements, which would be then shown to a jury.

This would mean the complainer would not attend court.

He said: “We have the ability to record what people do remember at or around the time of the event so it is somewhat strange that we are depending so heavily on what they’re being asked in a court room months and sometimes years later.

“The review was designed to address that major problem that we have of memories fading with time.”

Defence counsel Derek Ogg QC said ways of making the court environment more humane for complainers, such as using protective screens, already existed.

He also warned of endangering a fair trial by “making it as easy as possible” for allegations to be put before a jury without being adequately tested.

He said: “The hallmark of civilisation is a fair trial for the accused not a presumption that because someone makes an allegation of sexual assault or rape they are telling the truth.”

He added: “The right of a defence to see their accuser and to challenge their accuser has been the way of it in all civilised societies for all time.”