Supreme Court justice Lord Hodge underlines importance of corroboration

Lord Hodge

In a speech delivered to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, the Supreme Court justice contrasted the jury system of Scotland with that of England and Wales.

He noted that 10 of the 12 jurors must be persuaded of the defendant’s guilt in England and Wales while in Scotland a majority of eight of the 15 jurors must believe the accused is guilty in order to secure a conviction.

“Thus, Scots law requires a smaller majority than English law, but it has other protections of an accused person, such as corroboration – the requirement that there is evidence from two independent sources which points to the guilt of the accused,” he said.

Last year the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, hinted that corroboration could yet be scrapped after a failed attempt in recent years.

Speaking to The Scotsman in June 2017, Mr Wolffe explained the issue would be revisited as part of a “package of measures” for updating the criminal justice system.

“Inevitably, as a prosecutor, I’m very conscious of the role corroboration plays in the system and the impact it has on decision making in individual cases,” he said.

“…I could see us coming back to look again to see whether the system has the right checks and balances.

“Rape typically has one of the lowest conviction rates of any crime in Scotland.”

Dean of Faculty, Gordon Jackson QC, said at the time: “I still think it would be a mistake to abolish corroboration, but an even bigger mistake to do it in isolation.

“If that change is to be made, it will require, as I think the Scottish government now knows, a number of other changes.

“Certainly, any such proposal will need to be very carefully considered.”