This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Sexual Offences Act comes into force
31/10/2002
The victims of sexual offences will receive extra
protection in Scotland's courts when the Sexual Offences
(Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002 comes into
force on November 1.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace said the new law would
"help prevent the most traumatic and unjustifiable forms of
questioning that victims have had to endure in the
past."
He also said this highlighted the Executive's
willingness to change the law to protect victims of crime
and increase public safety.
The Act provides the courts with new powers giving
greater protection to victims of rape and sexual offences.
It modernises the law of evidence in these trials and will
prevent the trauma of the victim of such an offence being
subjected to intense personal questioning by the
accused.
The main objectives of the Bill are:
- To prevent the accused in trials for rape and all
other sexual offence cases from personally
cross-examining the complainer by requiring the accused
to be legally represented throughout the whole
trial
- To strengthen existing provisions restricting the
extent to which evidence can be led about the sexual
history and character of the victim
Mr Wallace said:
"The aim of this legislation was to reduce some of the
"fear factor" that deters many victims from coming forward.
Victims should be able to give evidence without the fear of
being put in a situation where they are questioned directly
by the accused.
"The Executive does not believe that victims should be
subjected to intense, often degrading questioning from the
very person who is accused of abusing them.
"If an accused also tries to use a woman's sexual
history as evidence, it will now be likely that any
previous sexual offences of the accused will be revealed to
the jury. It is about redressing the balance so that the
court takes the needs of the victims fully into account. It
will help prevent the most traumatic and unjustifiable
forms of questioning that victims have had to endure in the
past
"The very nature of rape or sexual offences can be
extremely traumatic. Questioning can often be highly
degrading and will sometimes put victims off coming to
court in the first place. To make sure justice is done, we
must do more to protect those who may be vulnerable in
court.
"This Act is part of our long standing commitment to
provide better services for victims of crime. We are
committed to placing victims at the heart of the criminal
justice system, making sure they have access to support,
help and information at each stage of their contact with
the justice system."
The Bill was a result of a wide-ranging consultation
following the publication in November 2000 of the
consultation paper 'Redressing the Balance: Cross
Examination in Rape and Sexual Offence Trials'.
The Bill was introduced in June 2001. The Act was passed
on March 6, 2002 and received Royal Assent on April 11
2002.