§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recourse is available to men who have been(a) acquitted of rape charges and (b) charged with rape but the charges were later withdrawn, with particular reference to those whose names have been published. [1816]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyIf the individual believed that an acquittal or withdrawal was insufficient to clear his name and there were grounds for claiming that the prosecution was malicious and brought without reasonable cause, it would be open to him to bring a civil claim against the person or authority responsible. If there was evidence to suggest that a malicious complaint had been made, it would be open to the police and Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether a criminal offence had been committed. If there had been improper or unreasonable behaviour on the part of the police, a complaint could be made to the Chief Officer of the force concerned.
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§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men charged with rape were subsequently(a) acquitted and (b) had charges withdrawn in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available [1815]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe number of men charged with rape is not recorded centrally.
Available information held centrally showing the number of men proceeded against at all courts for rape together with the numbers acquitted or who had the proceedings against them withdrawn is given in the table.
The numbers of men proceeded against for rape together with the numbers subsequently acquitted or who had the charge withdrawn, England and Wales 1990–99 Number proceeded against Number acquitted or withdrawn 1990 1,463 552 1991 1,702 614 1992 1,647 630 1993 1,701 622 1994 1,780 698 1995 1,622 718 1996 1,751 790 1997 1,948 856 1998 2,174 1,088 1999 2,153 1,103