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The State of Prosecutions

Rape convictions in court higher than thought; forensic science under threat; the outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill KC; do the powerful get away with it in the US?

New evidence shows that if a rape case actually comes to court, then - despite popular perceptions - juries are more likely to convict than not, says Professor Cheryl Thomas of UCL.

The UK’s forensic science used to be considered the gold standard, but no longer. The risk of miscarriages of justice is growing. And now a new Westminster Commission is trying to find out what went wrong. Joshua talks to its co-chair, leading forensic scientist Dr Angela Gallop CBE, and to criminal defence barrister Katy Thorne KC.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill KC speaks to Joshua about all this, and about his record as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service. Max Hill also breaks the news that he will not seek a second term.

From Epstein to Trump: are America’s rich and powerful above the law? The former New York prosecutor and now CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig argues that they are, and has just written a book about this: 'Untouchable — How powerful people get away with it'.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Editor: Simon Watts
Sound engineer: James Beard
Picture credit: Nicholas Posner

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29 minutes

Last on

Thu 23 Mar 2023 20:00

Broadcasts

  • Tue 21 Mar 2023 16:00
  • Thu 23 Mar 2023 20:00

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