Update from EVAW
Dear Supporters,
Thanks to the extraordinary public support we have received, we have been able to fight our legal challenge all the way to trial – and our hearing date is coming up in just over a week’s time!
Our case will be heard over two days – on the 26th and 27th January 2021 – at the Court of Appeal. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any of us will be able to be in court at person, given the national lockdown, but if everyone helps to raise awareness and voice their support, we hope the national media will listen.
We still need your help!
Thanks again to you, we were able to meet the new fundraising target that we set ourselves in September 2020! This means that we have been able to fight this case all the way to trial in the knowledge that – if we lose – we will not be forced to pay out an amount in costs that we cannot afford. The Crown Prosecution Service still maintain that if we do not win on our legal grounds, they will seek an order for costs against us of up to £75,000 (which is the costs cap imposed by the court).
In addition to the money we might have to pay to the CPS if we lose next week, we have also had to pay for expert fees, court fees and printing costs. The costs at this last stage of proceedings have in fact been more substantial than we originally anticipated, as a result of receiving new material in the case from the CPS, and the additional administrative costs of having to prepare and outsource printing of all of our trial papers while working remotely from home. It is also looking likely that we will have to continue incurring costs in the week or so remaining before trial. Our entire legal team is acting for us under a ‘no win no fee’ agreement, which means they are only paid by the CPS if we win. Given the £75,000 cost cap we would have to pay the CPS if we lose, our fundraising needs remain substantial.
With this in mind, we are asking for ONE LAST CROWDFUNDING EFFORT to help us reach our final fundraising target of £105,000 before trial. If you feel able to give more, it would be hugely appreciated – and if you are not, we are equally grateful for any efforts you can make to share and draw attention to this crowdfunding page. We are so nearly there...
Any unused funds at the end of the case will be used by the EVAW Coalition and CWJ to help fund other strategic litigation, campaigning or other projects aimed at holding the state to account in relation to violence against women and girls.
Our day in court - what to expect
The Crown Prosecution Service are still contesting our claim. It is expected that their legal team will make the case at trial that the CPS did not materially change their rape prosecution policy, or practice, in the years 2016 to 2018. We believe that this is an extraordinary position to take given what we now know:
• CPS management imposed a formal conviction rate target (or ‘level of ambition’) for rape in 2016, without making this public. The CPS themselves have admitted to the Law Society Gazette that they eventually dropped this policy two years later, as they realised retrospectively that it might give prosecutors a “perverse incentive” to prosecute fewer cases: only pursuing the ‘easiest’ cases, instead of investigating and prosecuting as many cases as possible
• Trainings were also delivered to sexual offences prosecutors in 2016 (and not to prosecutors working in any other area of crime) in which they were discouraged categorically from referring to the ‘merits-based approach’ in their charging decisions any more, and told that if they could identify and remove hundreds of ‘weak’ cases from the system, it would improve the CPS’ conviction rates
• The CPS systematically removed all guidance for sexual offences prosecutors and the public relating to the ‘merits-based approach’ to charging decisions in 2017 and 2018, without consultation. We believe the CPS must know that this change of guidance has had a negative impact – not least because – in a huge ‘u-turn’ revealed in October 2020 – they have now reinstated large extracts of the deleted guidance, word for word, on their website!
• The number of rape prosecutions decreased by more than 50% in just two years, between 2016/17 and 2018/19: a record decline. And although there has been a very slight improvement since then, we are still seeing a worryingly low proportion of cases charged
• Police officers, including senior police officers, have spoken out publicly about their concerns that the CPS are now applying an impossibly high threshold before they will bring charges
In the past few months we have been able to obtain further evidence, too, which we have not been able to publicise until the case is fully heard in open court next week. That, in part, is why this coming hearing is so important for us. We are calling for an honest, transparent examination of policy decisions that, we believe, have contributed to the current crisis in rape prosecutions. In addition to this, we hope too that the court will find the CPS’ change of policy unlawful – and forbid it from happening again in the future.
We will update you as soon as we can once the hearing ends. Again, thank you for your support - we couldn't have gotten this far without you!
The EVAW Coalition and CWJ Team