Petition Tag - conservative-liberal democrat coalition

UPDATE 09/10/2010
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In a letter Tom McNally at the Ministry of Justice has confirmed:

"Having considered the arguments the Government has concluded that it does not see a compelling case for anonymity for those accused of rape beyond the point of charge ... The Government will not announce its detailed plans until the autumn but whatever we do it will be without recourse to legislation."

Well done everyone and thank you for signing the petition.

UPDATE 06/07/2010
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50 organisations have signed Rights of Women's statement opposing this proposal. Rights of Women is contacting every MP before the debate on the proposal in the House of Commons which is scheduled for Thursday 8 July.

UPDATE 09/06/2010
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Rather than clog up this page with endless updates, please see cim's parliamentary timeline at Refusing the Default for the latest developments.

UPDATE 01/06/2010
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Former Solicitor General Vera Baird summarizes the arguments against this proposal in an article published today in Progress Magazine, available to read here.

UPDATE 27/05/2010: EDM tabled
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An Early Day Motion was tabled yesterday as follows:

"That this House believes that the Government's proposal to grant anonymity to defendants in rape cases sends a message to juries and rape victims that the victim is not to be believed; fears that this could inhibit the effective prosecution of serial rapists; is further concerned that this will reverse the progress made on the prosecution of rape cases noted in the independent Stern Review; is further concerned that the Government has put forward the proposal without any research, evidence or examination of these issues; and calls on the Government to withdraw its proposal."


PREAMBLE
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On 20th May 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition announced their intention to extend anonymity in rape cases to defendants.

Currently only rape complainants are granted anonymity. In a system of open justice anonymity should only be granted when there are compelling reasons to do so.

The primary purpose of complainant anonymity is to encourage victims to come forward and report rape, a severely under-reported crime (Home Office research estimates that 85% of rapes go unreported).

No such argument applies to rape defendants, who are treated in the same way as those accused of other crimes.

For a summary of arguments with reference to anonymity, see here

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