To ask Her Majesty's Government when the review of the law on rape will be published. [HL6115]

The Government announced a review on 22 September 2009 into how rape complaints are handled from when a rape is first disclosed until the court reaches a verdict. The review, led by Baroness Stern, will report in February 2010. The Stern review terms of reference are:

to examine the response of the public authorities to rape complaints and examine how more victims can be encouraged to report;

to explore ways in which the attrition rate in criminal cases can be reduced and how to fairly increase the conviction rate;

to identify how to increase victim and witness satisfaction, and confidence in the CJS in addressing rape;

to explore public and professional attitudes to rape and how they impact on outcomes;

to utilise findings and information available from other relevant work, particularly the work on victims' experience being led by Sara Payne and the Department of Health Taskforce led by Professor Sir George Alberti, avoiding unnecessary duplication; and

to make recommendations, with particular reference to improving the implementation of current policies and procedures.

The review will not, however, consider changes to the law.