How have rape and sexual offence investigations and prosecutions evolved over the last 5 years?

It is unlikely that any area of the criminal justice system has undergone more scrutiny in the last few years than the investigation and prosecution of Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO). 

So how are RASSO cases investigated and prosecuted and what is the difference between these and other criminal offences.

Pre-charge engagement 

At Olliers, we specialise in representing individuals during the pre-charge stage of a criminal investigation – often the most difficult and stressful period in a client’s life. This stage, which precedes any formal charge, is critical. Decisions made here can shape the entire trajectory of a case. Our proactive and strategic approach is designed to protect reputations, minimise risk, and, wherever possible, prevent matters from progressing to charge.

We understand that being under investigation, particularly for an allegation of a sexual nature, can be overwhelming. Our team works closely with clients to manage every aspect of the process, from liaising with investigators to gathering evidence and preparing detailed representations. We aim to take control early, ensuring that our clients are not simply passive participants in a process that can feel intimidating and opaque.

Specialist sexual offences lawyers 

When it comes to sexual offence allegations, our approach remains rooted in the same principles: early intervention, meticulous preparation, and unwavering support. These cases often carry significant stigma and emotional weight, and we recognise the importance of handling them with sensitivity, discretion and expertise. Whether the allegation involves rape, sexual assault, or other offences, our goal is to secure the best possible outcome -ideally, without the matter ever reaching court. 

RASSO prosecutions 

Prosecutors dealing with allegations of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) should base their decision making as if they were dealing with any criminal offence. Decision making lawyers should apply the Charging Standard, contained within the Code for Crown Prosecutors 2020. They should only authorise a charge if there is a ‘realistic prospect of a conviction’ and a ‘prosecution is in the ‘public interest’. 

Files should conform to the National File Standard and the guidance in terms of what material is required for a charging decision.

And, RASSO cases are frequently cases where effective pre-charge engagement can take place between investigators and defence teams. Indeed, at Olliers we have extensive experience of representing clients during the investigation stage of our case and a high proportion of our cases are RASSO cases.  

It is in these cases that we frequently make effective and successful representations against charge because we are able to argue that there is not a realistic prospect of a conviction. 

So, is there a difference to the way in which RASSO cases are investigated and prosecuted? 

Here, we look at the recent history of RASSO investigations up to late 2025. 

2020 and the introduction of RASSO 2025 

Now five years old, the CPS RASSO 2025 strategy was a comprehensive five-year plan aimed at improving the handling of RASSO cases in the criminal justice system.

The strategy was and still is underpinned by a commitment to ensuring that the right person is prosecuted for the right offence. It aimed to drive a ‘step change’ for the criminal justice system as a whole, ensuring fair treatment for all parties. It expressed a desire to balance the needs and rights of both victims and suspects.

It included a range of measures to improve case handling, support for victims, adopting a victim centered approach, an offender centric approach, and collaboration and partnership across the criminal justice system. 

At the time, Max Hill KC, then Director of Public Prosecutions, described the strategy as a turning point in approaching this complex area of work. 

2021 Operation Soteria in the CPS

In June 2021, the Ministry of Justice published the Cross-Government Rape Review which included a public commitment to launch Operation Soteria. This initiative aimed to transform the criminal justice response to rape and improve the experience of victims by incorporating academic expertise into the development of a new ‘national operating model’ for investigating and prosecuting adult rape.

An independent academic team was appointed to conduct research across five initial Pathfinder CPS Areas. Research informed the creation of a new national operating model for prosecuting adult rape. Simultaneously, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and the academic team Bluestone Soteria, led the development of the national model for rape investigations. 

The intention was to establish a new national standard, promoting consistency across CPS Areas. 

Impact on CPS Practices

The new operating model embedded a suspect-centric approach into CPS policies and guidance. It influences case strategies, charging decisions and how RASSO advocates are instructed. 

Key Outcomes 

Each force developed tailored improvement plans based on findings. The findings informed a national model for rape investigations, now available to all police forces in England and Wales.

Test, Learn and Evaluate Approach – six workstreams

Operation Soteria in the CPS is built on the principle of continuous improvement and is underpinned by an ethos of ‘test, learn and evaluate’. Following an internal review of best practice, six workstreams were identified as being central to the effectiveness of rape prosecutions and having considerable potential for embedding the suspect-centric approach. 

• Early Partnership Working on Investigations aims to increase volumes and timeliness of rape referrals by prioritising closer joint working with the police and the CPS, including initiatives such as Early Advice (EA). 
• Action Plan Monitoring aims to improve both the quality and timeliness of action plans given to the police by the CPS, ensuring they are clear, reasonable and proportionate. 
• No Further Action (NFA) Scrutiny aims to improve the quality of decision making. 
• Case Progression and Trial Readiness intended to reduce ineffective and vacated trials and improve the quality and timeliness of our case progression. 
• Supporting Victims aims to improve overall victim confidence; increase engagement with victims and support services; and ensure a stronger understanding of the criminal justice system and reduce the numbers of victims dropping out of the system. 
• Our People aims to prioritise the learning and development and wellbeing of our CPS staff 

2023 and the introduction of the National Operating Model 

In 2023 Max Hill KC still Director of Public Prosecutions, reflected upon the fact that three years had passed since the publication of RASSO 2025. He offered a candid assessment of the criminal justice system’s commitment to tackling rape and violence against women and girls, acknowledging a crisis of trust in the agencies involved, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).  

While systemic transformation would take time, the release of the National Operating Model (NOM) for the prosecution of rape marked a significant milestone. 

The background to the National Operating Model was the 2021 Joint National Action Plan which was intended to set out a clear partnership between policing and the CPS to improve both rape investigations and prosecutions.

The new framework represented a significant shift in CPS practices, aiming to deliver a better national service. Max Hill KC emphasised the importance of maintaining momentum and implementing changes transparently, allowing external stakeholders to hold the CPS accountable.

Hill expressed hope that the National Operating Model would be a pivotal step in restoring trust, providing assurance, and improving support for those engaging with the CPS

Implementation and next steps as at 2023 

The CPS undertook deliver the national operating model through an incremental approach, building on existing work through the Joint National Action Plan, the outputs of Operation Soteria, and a focus on a suspect centric approach.

Implementation was to be supported through: 

• Delivery of a range of products to support the approach 
• Development and delivery of professional support, including training and clinical supervision 
• Continuing recruitment of the right people to the right post to support cultural change  

July 2024: HM’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services report on progress to introduce a National Operating Model 

In July 2024 HM’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services reported on progress to introduce a national operating model for rape and other serious sexual offence investigations. 

This report looked at the model from a police and investigatory perspective. It described ‘Operation Soteria’ as:

‘An unprecedented programme to transform how the police handle rape and other serious sexual offences (RASSO)’, and that it was ‘grounded in decades of research that has examined policing practice and why RASSO victims have been systematically failed by the criminal justice system.’ 

Soteria aims to create effective suspect-focused RASSO investigations, where the police support victims and understand their needs. It also aims to make sure intelligence, analysis and digital forensics are used effectively to support cases. 

It confirmed that by November 2024, the Home Office expected all forces to adopt Soteria by putting the NOM in place. 

 The report noted that in the nine ‘early adopter forces inspected’, Soteria was already improving how the police understand and support victims, that there was a positive cultural change in how police approach victims. And, that new training was helping investigators understand more about RASSO and how victims can be targeted by perpetrators. 

The report found that Government, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing all strongly supported Soteria. And they referenced several police personnel describing it as a game changer creating a ‘victim-centred and suspect-focused approach to RASSO’. 

The report also found areas where there was room for improvement whilst recognising that forces struggled with high caseload and limited resources and were worried this might become a bigger problem as the NOM developed. 

Areas of criticism 

Areas of criticism included: resource gaps in digital forensics, victim support and investigation teams. And in most forces, half of rape investigation team roles were held by trainees. They found examples of victims having to wait months to receive specialist support. And some forces needed to improve at data collection and analysis. They also referenced funding issues, court delays, sometimes making it likely that complaints are withdrawn. 

Yet despite the challenges they took the view that Soteria was a major opportunity for victims to get the service they deserve. 

July 2025 HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate’s Report into the handling of RASSO cases at the early advice and pre-charge stage  

In July 2025 a different Inspectorate reported. The July 2025 report by His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) highlights urgent improvements needed in the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) handling of adult rape cases particularly at the early advice and pre-charge review stage. 

Criticisms 

The report criticised quality of decision making in rape cases, it found that prosecutors are failing to focus the behaviour of suspects and not prioritising complainants at the early stage of cases. It also found that the National Operating Model (NOM) was not being consistently applied across CPS areas. 

The July 2025 report by His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) identifies significant deficiencies in the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) handling of adult rape cases, especially in early advice and pre-charge review stages, prompting a set of urgent recommendations for improvement.

Significantly the CPS agreed with all the recommendations in a response the following day (15th July 2025). 

Urgent Recommendations 

The recommendations are summarised below: 

• Offer of face to face or virtual meetings requirement: by September 2025, CPS to offer face-to-face or virtual meetings in every adult rape case during early advice and before finalizing pre-charge decisions if no early meeting occurred.  
• Prosecutor skills development: By July 2026, CPS to invest in enhancing the skills and confidence of RASSO prosecutors to improve casework quality and prosecutorial decision-making.  
• Quality assurance and advice improvements: CPS commits to improving the quality of early advice, pre-charge decision reviews, and implementing a quality assurance regime by December 2025 to assess and enhance casework quality.  
• Enhanced scrutiny and communication: From October 2025, CPS will ensure complex pre-charge advice cases are scrutinized in joint operational meetings, with consistent recording of issues and actions, and will decide on compulsory victim communication letters explaining charging decisions by October 2025.  

Essentially HMCPSI found that the CPS was still falling short and the CPS immediately held their hands up, accepting every recommendation and every implementation date. So, as I type this there is pressure on the CPS to get result across the set of recommendations and in relation to the operation of the National Operating Model. 

October 2025 Onwards 

Implemented from October 2025, the Rape Action Plan focusses on providing enhanced oversight, supporting and upskilling CPS people, and increasing public confidence. It aims to ensure that RASSO prosecutors are equipped to deliver high-quality casework from the earliest stages of a case. The Action Plan aims to provide enhanced assurance of legal decision making, support and upskill lawyers; and increase public confidence in the ability of the CPS to prosecute offences effectively. Informed by insights from across the organisation, the Action Plan is designed to be practical, targeted and capable of delivering meaningful change. 

On 22nd October 2025 the CPS published its Annual Rape Scrutiny Report. As part of the new National Operating Model for Adult Rape Prosecution, the CPS are committed to holding regular rape scrutiny panels. These meetings bring together prosecutors, police, and external practitioners to examine rape cases and reflect on what they can learn from their outcomes. The panels are designed to support open, honest, and structured discussions, identifying effective approaches, inviting constructive challenges, and drawing out key insights to improve future casework.

Local rape scrutiny panels are held quarterly within each CPS RASSO Unit across England and Wales. Each panel typically includes RASSO staff from the CPS and police, Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs), and representatives from the community and voluntary sectors. By involving external participants, the panels help to strengthen transparency and accountability in criminal justice decision-making, ensuring that prosecution outcomes and policy development are informed by a diverse range of perspectives. 

In February 2025, the CPS held its first National Rape Scrutiny Panel. Opened by the Director of Public Prosecutions, this meeting brought together representatives from the CPS, police, and the third sector to review a selection of cases from different CPS Areas. It provided a national platform to reflect on emerging themes and facilitate open dialogue about the challenges facing rape prosecutions. 

This Annual Rape Scrutiny report draws on the minutes of over forty Local Rape Scrutiny Panels held across all fourteen CPS Areas between April 2024 and July 2025. In total, more than a hundred individual RASSO cases were scrutinised at these panels.  

The importance of a proactive specialist solicitor for rape and sexual offence investigations 

The July 2025 HMCPSI Report into the handling of RASSO cases at the early advice and pre-charge stage was very critical. In accepting every recommendation and every implementation date the CPS has given itself some serious challenges. And RASSO Lawyers, in the short term at least are likely to find their already challenging workloads further stretched.  

From the defence perspective our overriding concern is that none of the above leads to either rushed decision making or lawyers facing undue pressure to prosecute. 

The recommendations push the concept of ‘early advice’ harder than ever before. One of the first things a pro-active defence lawyer should be doing is establishing whether early advice is being requested and if so whether that is likely to be face-to-face. At this point a lawyer can consider what initial points the defence may want to flag up, what lines of enquiry the defence may want to suggest and what preliminary representations the defence may want to make. Essentially, laying down a marker on behalf of a suspect and, above all, ensuring that the investigation does not proceed without consideration of key defence points. 

Let us not forget, from the defence perspective, that the Code for Crown Prosecutors has not changed. The Charging Standard remains the same. Prosecutions should take place, not because of a pressure to increase the number of cases before the courts but because, and only, where there is a ‘realistic prospect of a conviction’ and a prosecution is in the public interest. 

Olliers Solicitors – specialist rape and sexual offence defence solicitors 

Facing allegations of a sexual offence can be overwhelming and deeply distressing. At Olliers, we understand the emotional toll and the importance of having someone in your corner who will listen, support and guide you through every step of the legal process. 

Our specialist team offers confidential, compassionate, and expert advice tailored to your circumstances. You don’t have to face this alone. 

Contact us today to discuss your situation. We’re here to help, without judgement and with the utmost discretion.