A COURT has dismissed a case against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over plummeting rape prosecutions in a decision that marks “another Establishment betrayal” of victims, campaigners said today. 

The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition had argued that a change in policy has resulted in a “shocking and unprecedented” decline in rape prosecutions. 

The group argued that from 2016 to 2020 the prosecution service had moved away from a “merits-based approach” to decide which cases of alleged serious sexual assault should be charged. 

Lawyers for the women’s rights group said the CPS instead took a risk-averse approach as part of policy changes to reduce the proportion of rape charges that end in an acquittal, arguing this amounted to “systemic illegality.”

But in a judgement today, the Court of Appeal ruled that the CPS had not  changed its policy on decision-making on sexual offence prosecutions. 

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said that the removal of references to the “merits-based approach” in guidance for prosecutors “was not a change of legal substance.” 

EVAW’s director Andrea Simon said she was deeply disappointed at the outcome. “The Court of Appeal has given the CPS the benefit of the doubt on whether there was any change of approach to prosecution decision-making, but we still lack alternative answers to why rape prosecutions have collapsed,” she said. 

“This marks another Establishment betrayal of victims of violence against women and girls.”

Rape prosecutions have dropped to record low levels since 2016, with less than 3 per cent of cases reported to police in 2019-2020 later charged by the CPS. 

Yet Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill QC claimed the Court of Appeal’s decision confirmed that “there was no change of approach in the way the CPS prosecutes rape cases.” 

Labour’s shadow solicitor general Ellie Reeves said the Court of Appeal ruling “endorses what is effectively decriminalisation of rape.”

She said: “Survivors of sexual assault are being failed by the government.

“Rape prosecution rates are at their lowest level on record in England and Wales, victims of rape are waiting years for their court date, and only one in seven victims has faith in the criminal justice system.” 

Labour unveiled a new raft of proposals to “end a decade of failure for victims” today.

Under the party’s survivors’ support plan rape and serious sexual assault cases would be fast-tracked through the criminal justice system to address the huge backlog in cases, as well as introducing free legal advice for victims.