asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have carried out any studies on rape conviction rates in Germany, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the United States compared to the rates for the United Kingdom, and on the reasons for any differences in these rates. [HL1833]
Home Office Research Study 293, A Gap or a Chasm? Attrition in Reported Rape Cases, published in 2005, includes information about rape conviction rates for Finland, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Denmark and the US. The report suggests that while some core problems link adversarial and investigative legal systems, including declining rates of conviction, most of these countries have higher prosecution and conviction rates than the UK.
The report does not offer reasons for these differences and any international comparisons need to be treated with caution as the criminal justice processes, definition of rape and data collection processes are not necessarily comparable between countries.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has reclaimed the award of £11,000 paid to the accuser in the Leslie Warren rape case; and [HL1854]
Whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has reclaimed the award of £7,000 paid to the accuser in the Warren Blackwell rape case. [HL1855]
I refer the noble Lord to the Answers given on 23 January (col. WA 219) and 1 February (col. WA 73). CICA cannot release information about whether any applications have been made in particular cases.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have carried out any studies on rape conviction rates in Australia and New Zealand compared to the rates for the United Kingdom, and on the reasons for any differences in these rates. [HL2013]
Home Office Research Study 293, A Gap or a Chasm? Attrition in Reported Rape Cases, published in 2005, includes information about rape conviction rates for Australia. The report identifies similar attrition patterns to those documented for England and Wales. The Government have not carried out any studies on rape conviction rates for New Zealand. International comparisons need to be treated with caution, as the criminal justice processes, definition of rape and data collection processes are not necessarily comparable between countries.