Achi news desk-
READ MORE: MSPs split on ‘controversial’ plan for non-jury rape trials
Last week, in their Stage 1 report, on the new Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, the committee was evenly split on the pilot scheme for judge-only rape trials, with only four SNP members support the key proposal.
The two Conservative and two Labor MSPs were opposed.
On the unproven ruling, the committee said it “has had its day and should be repealed.”
However, they expressed concerns about reducing the size of juries and moving from a simple majority verdict to a two-thirds verdict.
At present, a simple majority is required for a guilty verdict in a Scottish court, which means eight out of every 15 jurors.
But although Bill seeks to reduce the number of jurors in criminal trials from 15 to 12, the number of jurors required for a guilty verdict would remain at eight.
The MSPs said they had not heard “convincing evidence in favor of the specific proposals.”
They also highlighted concerns from Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC that the change could make it “much harder” to convict people.
President of the Law Society of Scotland, Sheila Webster, said the report underlined the sector’s concerns about key elements of the Bill.
He said: “The proposal to introduce non-jury trials for cases of rape has been the most controversial part of this Bill, and it has proved to be equally controversial for members of the committee.
“The lack of consensus confirms that this plan is flawed and lacks detail and supporting evidence. It should be removed from the Bill.”
Ms Webster said the association had some “significant concerns” about the committee’s support for removing “unproven” despite acknowledging they do not know what the impact of that decision will be.”
He said: “Unproven scrapping without any balancing provisions would be a wholly unacceptable outcome with unpredictable consequences.
“If there is insufficient evidence to determine the size of a jury and the majority of the verdict, then it must be kept ‘unproved’.”
READ MORE: The Lord Advocate is ‘concerned’ about the SNP’s plan to reduce the size of juries
Plans for non-jury trials have been met with skepticism since they were first suggested by the Scottish Government.
During their evidence sessions, the Criminal Justice Committee heard that around 97% of lawyers in Scotland were prepared to boycott the pilot scheme.
Simon Brown, Vice President of the Scottish Bar Association (SSBA) told MPs that ministers were “experimenting with people’s lives.”
The Scottish Government has received a request for comments.
