The Scottish government is to abandon a pilot plan to hold trials for serious sexual offenses without a jury.

The proposal would have a single judge decide whether people are guilty of rape and attempted rape, in a bid to increase conviction rates.

The plan is expected to be canceled with a later announcement. criticized by lawyers and judges who said this could violate human rights laws.

The government will press for the removal of the decision, which has cross-party support but has not yet been proven.

There would be a trial without a jury took place in 2028But it divided MSPs in Parliament.

The Scottish Bar Association said it would conduct experiments on people’s lives and threatened a boycott.

The Scottish government’s reasoning was that the conviction rate for most crimes was around 90%, while for rape the rate was much lower, at around 50%.

He believed this was because jurors were often influenced. “rape myths” – outdated attitudes that undermine the way they view the case and whether they believe the alleged victim is telling the truth about not consenting.

These beliefs include that real victims will try to fight or run away from their attacker, that they will immediately report the crime to the police rather than waiting months or even years to tell anyone, and that they must act emotionally in court.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance previously said there was “compelling evidence” that jurors were influenced in their decisions by these myths.

Senior judge Lady Dorrian examined the issue and suggested a pilot scheme be trialled, in the belief that judges would be less likely to be influenced by such attitudes.

Scottish government Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) BillThe plan published in April 2023 was included.

Victim support groups such as Rape Crisis Scotland backed the proposal, saying survivors were currently being let down by the justice system.

But the legal profession has expressed concern that this plan could threaten the fundamental principle that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Murray Etherington, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said it would “create a serious risk of injustice”, while Thomas Ross KC said it would create the possibility of a “witch hunt” against judges if they did not convict more people of sexual offences.