ABSTRACT
Sexual assaults are generally more difficult to prove than most other crimes. Statistics produced by the Scottish Executive show that in respect of all crimes and offences, 88% of persons called before the criminal courts in Scotland in 1998 were convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, at least one charge.1 A verdict of ‘not guilty’ following trial was recorded in only 3% of cases, with a further 1% receiving a ‘not proven’ verdict.2 This is in contrast to the position in relation to sexual assaults, in which 71% were convicted, 15% were found ‘not guilty’, and a further 8% were ‘not proven’.3 One reason for this lower conviction rate lies in the difficulty of finding corroborated evidence in substantiating allegations of sexual assault. This chapter considers the corroboration requirement in Scots law in relation to rape and other sexual offences, and also describes developments in the use of ‘corroboration by distress’. While the focus is mainly on Scotland, reference is made to English law for comparative purposes.
