Rape convictions
The SST reports that the average conviction rate for rapes has gone down form 38% in 1986 – 1995 to 31% for 1996 – 2005.
I would be interested to know how what percentage of guilty pleas occurred in each decade, and what the actual conviction rates for contested rapes are.
The suggestion is that one should be allowed to inform juries of previous convictions. I’m fairly relaxed about doing so, but one would have to do it for all crimes. I think one can trust a jury properly instructed to focus on the facts before them. But it may result in the Police just arresting people with previous criminal records for suspected crimes, on the basis it will be easier to convict them again. This may result in them not finding the actual offender so there are pros and cons.
In terms of actual rape convictions, I would be interested to see some data on how many people charged with rape have previously been found guilty of rape. I suspect it is pretty low, and hence a law change wouldn’t change the conviction rate much. However I do remember being told that it is very common for many rapists to have burglary convictions, so if they were revealed that might increase the conviction rate. But should people get found guilty of rape on the basis they were previously guilty of burglary?
Rape as a crime is always an incredibly difficult area of the justice system, because it is one of the rare crimes where consent is key. Murder is always bad. Assaults are always bad. Burglary is always bad. But rape is the one area where consent is the key difference between a normal everyday activity enjoyed by most NZers, and a heinous evil crime. Sure there are a tiny minority of people who consensually enjoy being assaulted (for example) but that is the exception not the rule.
This is partly why in most countries rape conviction rates are so low. Because unless a jury is convinced beyond reasonable doubt there was no consent, there can be no conviction. Just proof of sex is not enough. With an assault you generally only need prove they did the assault.
The best way to lift conviction rapes is for people to report the rape as soon as possible, and try to preserve forensic evidence. Now that is easier said than done I know. But there is no magical way to make sure rapists do get convicted, and the longer it is left, the harder it is.