The director of public prosecutions wants greater consistency in the way rapes are prosecuted
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New guidance for prosecutors says they should treat “very carefully” cases of people retracting rape allegations.
Last month a woman was jailed for falsely retracting rape claims, but freed after the appeal court heard she suffered violent abuse by her husband.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said such a retraction must be examined, including whether the person was “under pressure or frightened”.
Any resulting prosecution in England and Wales will now need DPP approval.
Mr Starmer announced the launch of a consultation exercise in the new year involving charities and special interest groups on the factors to consider before bringing a prosecution for perverting the course of justice.
He said: “While we must be robust in prosecuting those who seek to pervert the course of justice, cases where someone has reported a rape but then retracts the allegation must be treated very carefully and we must explore the issues behind the retraction, particularly if the victim is under pressure or frightened.”
A 28-year-old Powys woman was jailed for eight months in November for falsely retracting claims she had been raped six times by her husband.
She was later freed and given a community sentence by the Court of Appeal, which heard she had been subjected to violent abuse and was “emotional” and “confused”.
The new guidance also covers people investigated for falsely claiming they have been raped or suffered other violence.
The DPP is also emphasising adherence by prosecutors to the “so-called ‘merits-based’ approach to rape cases”.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) gives examples of myths and stereotypes surrounding rape cases, including: if a woman has no physical injuries then she must have consented; a delay in reporting a rape suggests the allegation is false, because a genuine victim would report the crime immediately.
The CPS says such assumptions “have bedevilled… rape cases”.
Prosecutors are advised to ignore the possibility of jurors making these assumptions when deciding whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a rape prosecution.
“Cases should be judged entirely on the merits of the evidence: myths and stereotypes have no place in a criminal justice system underpinned by basic human rights,” Mr Starmer said.
“Rape victims deserve justice and I am determined that we will deliver it.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Zuckerberg was the subject of the 2010 film The Social Network
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Time magazine has picked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as its annual Person of the Year, the figure it believes had the most influence on events in 2010.
The 26-year-old billionaire was the subject of a 2010 film, The Social Network, charting Facebook’s rise.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange earlier won a Time readers’ poll on 2010’s most influential person.
The annual feature has been a fixture since the 1920s, with the winner appearing on the front cover of Time.
The Person of the Year (formerly Man of the Year) title is awarded by the magazine’s editors to the figure deemed to have had the most influence on world events that year – not necessarily in a positive way.
Hitler, Stalin and the Ayatollah Khomeini have all won in the past.
In recent years, the title has gone to less controversial figures. In 2009 US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke won it, while US President Barack Obama won it the year before.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The ICRC said an increasing number of armed groups were making life tough for ordinary Afghans
Two new assessments are painting a bleak picture of the US-led war in Afghanistan, the day before the White House unveils its review of strategy.
The Red Cross found armed groups were making life more difficult for Afghans.
And US intelligence assessments reported by the New York Times suggest there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents.
President Obama is expected to say the US plan to begin withdrawing in 2011 remains on track, aides have said.
American military commanders and senior Pentagon officials have already criticized the US National Intelligence Estimates assessments as out of date.
The bleak reports came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai told Afghans that Nato should transfer full responsibility for all the country’s affairs, including security, to Afghans by the 2014.
In a live television address, he criticised his own administration for failing to tackle corruption, but highlighted international involvement in security firms, prisons and in delivering foreign aid as areas of particular concern.
“The bigger corruption is the corruption of the international community in Afghanistan and this can be addressed only through two ways.
“First, through their cordial, sincere and true cooperation and by allowing Afghans to manage their own affairs, so that they assume full responsibility for their country and their activities.”
In a rare public assessment of the humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan, the International Committee for the Red Cross said growing civilian casualties, internal displacement and poor medical care have created a dire humanitarian situation and are likely to persist into next year.
The group said the conflict has entered a “new, rather murky phase” in which proliferating armed factions impede humanitarian efforts, including providing medical care, food and clean drinking water to the growing number of refugees.
“One armed group may demand food and shelter in the evening, then, the next morning, another may demand to know why its enemy was given sanctuary,” Reto Stocker, head of the ICRC delegation in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
The group said a hospital in Kandahar had admitted 2,650 wounded patients in 2010, a 26% increase over 2009. It cited reports of threats against local medical staff and patients prevented or delayed from obtaining medical care.
The International Red Cross said the emerging armed groups include criminal gangs and are often difficult to identify. Civilians are increasingly caught in the middle of the armed conflicts and are forced to flee, it said.
Separately, in assessments reported by the New York Times, US intelligence officials said Pakistan’s unwillingness to crack down on militant groups operating in the lawless borderlands had created a major obstacle to progress in Afghanistan.
The National Intelligence Estimates as cited by the newspaper – one on Afghanistan and one on Pakistan – say insurgent groups plant bombs and carry out attacks in Afghanistan, then retreat unhindered over the border to Pakistan to rest and rearm.
But a senior defence official quoted by the newspaper criticised the studies’ authors and their conclusions, saying they were not “living it day in and day out like our forces are, so they don’t have the proximity and perspective”.
On Thursday, US President Barack Obama is expected to announced the findings of a report by his national security staff on progress in Afghanistan.
White House aides have suggested the report will contain few surprises and will support the president’s intention to begin turning over security duties to Afghan forces in July 2011.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Wen Jiabao (right) brings with him one of the largest teams of Chinese business leaders ever to visit India 
