Overhaul of rape inquiries threatened by lack of courtroom awareness, says expert

Exclusive: Independent adviser says some judges in England and Wales have not heard of changes to way cases are investigated An overhaul of the way police investigate rape is being put at risk by a lack of awareness in courtrooms in England and Wales, the government’s independent adviser on rape has warned. Prof Katrin Hohl said legal experts were concerned progress would stall or reverse if the conviction rate for rape dropped significantly because a new approach for investigating the cases, known as Operation Soteria, was hitting outdated practices in the courts. A vote on the courts and tribunals bill on Tuesday could result in as many as 65 Labour MPs failing to support measures that will remove the right to trial by jury in some cases. Before the vote, the justice secretary, David Lammy, launched a review of how courts deal with rape and sexual assault cases, and promised that rape victims would have access to independent legal advice from later this year. Hohl said that the future of the Soteria approach, which has significantly increased the number of rape charges made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), could be jeopardised if cases failed in court. The process focuses