The human rights organization Justice, has published a significant report that examines the prosecution of sexual offences, and in some areas calls for radical changes to be made.
Among the authors of the report is Judge Peter Rook QC, a senior Judge at the Central Criminal Court (the ‘Old Bailey’) and considered an expert authority on this area of law.
The main areas examined in the report are preventing and reducing offending with the attention being turned onto those who view indecent images of children.
The recommendations in the report are as follows:
“Police-led diversion schemes have recently been developed. These seek to address the factors that may lead to offending behavior without the need for prosecution. We have been inspired by the success of these programs to develop our own proposal for a Conditional Diversion Scheme, for individuals who have viewed IIOC. We consider that this scheme will provide the correct intervention to these individuals as quickly as possible, helping to both save prosecution and court resources and ensure reoffending rates remain low.”
When it comes to sentencing, this working party believes that lessons should be learned from the skills-based approach to rehabilitation, which has shown this to be an effective way to reduce reoffending rates. There should be a shift in focus to rehabilitation and more flexibility should be given to sentences to allow them to make suitable orders that allow the individual to rehabilitate effectively.”
In all cases we deal with, we work sensitively and diligently to prepare a robust defence case, we work hard with others to ensure outcomes that work for our clients and the wider community when it comes to sentencing.
To discuss anything to do with prosecution regarding sexual offences please contact us on 020 8754 5577 or email Amandeep@mtgsolicitors.com and we will gladly assist.
