Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 13 June 2007.

Crime: Rape

Question: My Lords, why is it that while reported rape/conviction rates in the UK are 5.3 per cent, in New Zealand they are 22 per cent; in Belgium, 16 per cent; Finland, 16 per cent; Israel, 16 per cent; Switzerland, 15 per cent; and in Germany, 23 per cent—four times the UK rate? The list goes on, and we are still trawling the world. Could the answer be that the law overseas accepts varying degrees of offence and penalty; that some countries use judges and experienced assessors and not juries; and the rejection of approaches such as those from a very powerful women’s lobby in the United Kingdom which is blocking reform of the law and yet not thinking the case through properly?

Answer: My Lords, there are varying degrees of cases in various other countries because they have different systems of judicial and criminal law. Our system needs improvement and a lot of work is being done to make it. We will of course look at international experience to assist us in that.

Secondary information