CANCELLED: Reimagining Criminal justice: Reflections from 'Sexual History Evidence and the Rape Trial'

THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED.

 It is frequently asserted that our current criminal justice system is in crisis. The results of decades of underfunding have left the system creaking at the seams. New challenges to age-old institutions such as the jury trial are underway. A radical anti-carceral literature – generally linked to a critique of wider social inequalities – has emerged. And in the context of a widely perceived global ‘epidemic’ of sexual violence, multiple studies have revealed the failings of the criminal justice system when it comes to victims of sexual violence.

How should we respond to this mountain of critique? In the face of multiple existential threats, including but not limited to, growing authoritarianism and creeping fascism, it is tempting to dig in and reassert the core liberal principles which define and delimit our criminal justice system. At the same time, and particularly in the context of our recent study of the use of sexual violence in the rape trial, there are good reasons to question and perhaps begin to reimagine a concept of criminal justice which is sensitive to the stark inequalities of power and resources which characterise the contemporary social order.

My talk reflects on these issues as they arose in the context of researching my recent book (Sexual History Evidence and the Rape Trial (Bristol University Press 2023, co-authored with Yvette Russell) on the use of sexual history in the rape trial.

Prof. Conaghan's presentation will be followed by comments from Dr. Barbara Havelkova. 

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