Articles

The Change In Rape-Procedure. A counsel of despair

Articles

Incestuous rape

Has the change in rape prosecution model achieved the intended effect?

The article discusses the essence of the institution of “prosecution upon the complaint from the victim”, its significance and the justification of its introduction. It subsequently assesses the effects of changing the rape prosecution model from prosecution upon the victim’s complaint to prosecution ex officio, from the perspective of eight years since the change took effect, as the shift was legally mandated in 2014. The rationale behind the change has been widely debated in legal literature. The need for such a change was mainly justified by increasing the protection of the women’s interests in relevant proceedings and improving disclosure rate of these crimes so as to reduce the dark figure of rapes. It was assumed that prosecuting rapes upon the complaint from the victim discouraged victims from reporting such crimes and that, for this reason, changing the model of prosecution so as to move away from prosecution upon the victim’s complaint would result in a greater number of reported rapes and consequently reduce the dark figure of rapes. Yet an analysis of statistical data demonstrates that changing the model of prosecution did not affect the number of confirmed cases of rape, which is steadily decreasing. The fact that, from 2005 onwards, the number of investigations into rape cases has been far higher than that of confirmed offences of rape, with a steady increase in number of cases closed due to the failure to establish legal offence, may indicate a change in prosecution policy or expediting the decisions to report rape. However, the fact that the trend started to change as early as in 2005 implies that it was not a consequence of the amendment and change in the model of prosecution.