Rape and justice

Justice should not only be done, but be seen to be done, and therefore secrecy in trial proceedings is to be countenanced only when circumstances genuinely demand it. However, justice also requires that people should not be punished for what they have not done, or for what it cannot be proved that they have done. Innocent people, or people not proved guilty, should be able to live their lives after their trial as if they had never been accused.

The amendment to the Sexual Offences Bill passed by the House of Lords, granting anonymity to men accused of rape until they are found guilty, is therefore just and proper. This is because it is impossible, in the present climate at least, to live down a widely publicised accusation of rape. Sexual offences are popularly regarded as being in a completely different (and worse) category than all other infractions of the law, however severe, and many people suppose that there can be no smoke without fire. In much of the country, a man is guilty of rape if accused of it. The finding of the court is as dust in the balance.

The fact that 19 out of 20 men brought to trial for rape are found not guilty is used by both supporters and opponents of the amendment to bolster their case. Supporters argue that this proves that many accused men need protection from being publicly branded as rapists, because the accusation sticks but the finding of innocence does not.

Opponents argue that some or many of the 19 found not guilty are probably guilty, and since rapists may commit their offence again, the public should be warned. For opponents, most of whom are in the liberal camp, the old liberal dictum that it is better that 99 guilty men should go free than that one innocent man should be punished is reversed: where rape is concerned, it is better that 99 innocent men should be punished than that one guilty man should go free.