Vascular Inflammation and Oxidative Stress: Major Triggers for Cardiovascular Disease

Juryless Rape Trials Pilot Axed By Scottish Government

Lawyers and judges expressed concern the plans could breach human rights laws

A pilot scheme to hold trials for serious sexual offences without a jury has been scrapped by the Scottish government.

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

The scheme was criticised by lawyers and judges who said it could breach human rights laws.

Speaking at Holyrood, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said there was "not enough cross-party support" to go ahead with the plan, in what the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association called a "humiliating U-turn".

However the government is going to press ahead with the abolition of the 'not proven' verdict, which has cross-party support.

The juryless trial would have taken place in 2028, but it split MSPs in Parliament.

The SSBA said it would be experimenting with people's lives and threatened a boycott.

The justice secretary had spoken in favour of the pilot scheme

When the proposal was considered by the parliament's influential criminal justice committee, the Senators of the College of Justice - the country's judges - said that they were split over the issue.

SNP members of the committee, including first minister John Swinney, said they would support the proposal if safeguards were put in place.

Conservative and Labour members of the committee were against it.

Constance said that while she was willing to amend the provisions behind the trial, she recognised "that there is not enough cross-party support at this time for such a pilot, irrespective of the model".

She added: "In the interests of building as much consensus as possible, I will no longer pursue this policy and bring forward relevant amendments to remove it from the bill."

The justice secretary said she remained committed to "exploring the impact of rape myths and improving access to justice" for rape victims, and would bring forward amendments to allow research to be carried out into jury deliberations.

Rape myths

The Scottish government's reasoning was that while the conviction for most crimes sits at around 84%, for rape it is much lower at about 50%.

It believed this was due to jurors often being swayed by "rape myths" - outdated attitudes that prejudice how they view the case and whether or not they believe the alleged victim is telling the truth about not having consented.

Among these beliefs are that genuine victims would try to fight off or escape an attacker, that they would immediately report the crime to the police rather than waiting months or even years to tell anyone, and that they should behave emotionally in court.

Constance previously said there was a "compelling body of evidence" that jurors were being influenced in their verdicts by these myths.

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

Rape Crisis Scotland chief executive Sandy Brindley supported the proposal

The Scottish government's Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, published in April 2023, included the plan.

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

Chief executive Sandy Brindley said the charity was "disappointed" at the decision.

She said: "There is overwhelming evidence about the impact of rape myths on jury decision-making. Conviction rates for rape in Scotland remain the lowest of any crime type.

"In the absence of the judge-led pilot, the focus must be on ensuring that juries are able to make decisions based on the evidence before them and not on false assumptions about rape."

Ms Brindley added that she welcomed the news regarding changes being made to the Contempt of Court Act to allow for further research.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr MSP said the decision was a "belated victory for common sense".

He added: "We opposed many of the radical proposals within this bill, which would have undermined the integrity of Scotland's justice system."

Legal concerns

The legal profession had previously expressed concern the scheme could threaten the fundamental principle that an accused person is innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt.

In a social media post, the SSBA described the pilot scheme as a "dangerous proposal".

It stated: "Our opposition was a principled campaign based on a simple premise: either all of us matter or none of us matter. Once you start taking away some people's rights, it never ends there."

Roddy Dunlop KC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, also said he was "very pleased" to hear the plan was being dropped.

John Mulholland, the convener of the Law Society's public policy committee, said it was "unfortunate" that the decision had taken such a long time to be reached, and that the group had been "deeply concerned" about it.

The legislation also contained proposals to reduce the size of Scottish juries from 15 to 12 with a majority of 8 required for a guilty verdict.

Prosecutors from the Crown Office told the criminal justice committee that could make it harder to get convictions.

It is believed the government is now planning to keep juries at 15, but raise the requirement for a guilty verdict to a majority of 10.

That would be presented as a counter balance to the abolition of not proven and recent changes on the rules on corroboration.

Ms Brindley said Rape Crisis Scotland was "extremely concerned" about this step, as it would make rape convictions even harder to achieve.

Juryless rape trials plan could be modified

MSPs split over plans for rape trials without juries

Senior judges raise concerns over juryless trials

Johnson & Johnson Completes Pilot Enrollment In Omnypulse Trial

The Omnypulse system for pulsed field ablation. [Image courtesy of Johnson & Johnson MedTech]Johnson & Johnson MedTech today announced the completed enrollment in the pilot phase of a clinical trial for its Omnypulse pulsed field ablation platform.

The OMNY-AF clinical trial evaluates the investigational platform for treating symptomatic paroxysmal AFib in the U.S. And Australia. The single-arm, multi-center trial completed the pilot phase enrollment of 30 patients. Johnson & Johnson expects to enroll up to an additional 410 patients in the pivotal phase.

J&J's trial aims to demonstrate the safety and 12-month effectiveness of Omnypulse for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in treating subjects with symptomatic paroxysmal AFib. The company expects the pivotal phase to begin once the FDA completes a review of acute safety data from the pilot group.

The Omnypulse platform features the Omnypulse catheter and the Trupulse generator. The company offers the catheter as a large-tip, 12 mm device with Carto 3 system integration. It features contact force feedback and enhanced mapping capabilities. Altogether, it combines pulsed field ablation (PFA) therapy and mapping.

The investigational Trupulse generator delivers a bipolar, biphasic pulse sequence to the catheter's 12 electrodes during cardiac ablation. It features contact force sensing and the Trueref reference electrode, reducing the impact of far-field unipolar signals. J&J said it designed the platform to enable AFib strategies with a single device. It combines a large ablation area with the ability to create high-density maps.

Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson completed enrollment in the Omny-IRE clinical trial. That trial evaluates Omnypulse in Europe and Canada.

"The OMNY-AF study is part of our ongoing efforts to equip electrophysiologists with the tools they need to efficiently and effectively conduct ablation procedures to drive positive outcomes for patients with AFib." said Jennifer Currin, VP, Scientific Affairs, Cardiovascular & Specialty Solutions at Johnson & Johnson MedTech. "The ability to make personalized treatment decisions with the help of an integrated solution that allows electrophysiologists to both evaluate and treat would bring tremendous value to doctors and patients."

British Pilot Lands F-35 Jet Onboard Japanese Ship

A British F-35 pilot, Lieutenant Commander Baker, recently made history by landing on a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) platform, marking the first time an F-35 operated by a UK pilot has touched down on a Japanese vessel.

This milestone landing was conducted as part of Lt. Cmdr Baker's role with the U.S. Patuxent River Integrated Test Force.

The landing comes amid Japan's ongoing efforts to integrate the F-35B stealth fighter into its naval capabilities. Japan has modified its Izumo-class helicopter carriers to support the F-35B, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, as it works to expand its maritime air power in the region.

Earlier this year, Japanese military officers observed F-35B operations onboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, as Japan prepares for similar tests on its own vessels in the coming year.

HMS Prince of Wales recently completed extensive F-35 trials along the U.S. East Coast, which included nearly 150 short takeoffs, multiple vertical landings, and close to 60 shipborne rolling vertical landings during the Developmental Test Phase 3 (DT-3).

"The test points achieved will not only improve UK F-35B operations, but those of our F-35B program partners and allies as well," noted Captain Richard Hewitt, commanding officer of HMS Prince of Wales, highlighting the broader benefits of these trials for F-35-operating nations.

Japan, which is acquiring a mixed fleet of 147 F-35A and F-35B jets, is now the largest international customer of the F-35. Lockheed Martin, the jet's manufacturer, commented on the strategic value of this partnership, stating, "The growing synergy among F-35 operators is boosting allied deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, where Japan is acquiring more F-35s than any other international customer."

Royal Navy Lt. Commander Roderick Royce, who hosted the Japanese delegation's visit to HMS Prince of Wales, expressed optimism, in a mews release at the time, for future collaboration. "Hopefully it is the first of many such engagements which might one day lead to full interoperability between our respective carrier strike groups," he said, envisioning a possible scenario in which a Japanese F-35B could one day land on a UK carrier.

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