Scotland's Rape Laws Under Fire: Experts Warn of Human Rights Breach

Scotland's rape laws are at risk of breaching the European Convention of Human Rights due to a restrictive interpretation of evidence admissibility, warn legal experts from the Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland. The warning comes in a joint submission to the Supreme Court in the cases of Andrew Keir and David Daly, convicted of rape in 2022. The submission argues that the current interpretation of relevancy in sexual offence trials has resulted in an undermining of the statutory scheme, denying accused individuals a fair trial and potentially breaching Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Key Takeaways:

• The Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland have raised concerns about the restrictive interpretation of evidence admissibility in sexual offence trials, arguing that it has resulted in an undermining of the accused's right to a fair trial.
• The joint submission to the Supreme Court suggests that the current approach has created a risk of breach of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
• The submission accepts the importance of protecting complainers from intrusive questioning but argues that the current interpretation of relevancy has gone too far.
• The Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates intervened in the two recent rape cases to highlight their concerns and invite the Supreme Court to determine whether the balance has become skewed in favor of the complainer.
• Stuart Munro, convener of the Law Society's Criminal Law Committee, stated that a careful balance must be struck between protecting complainers and ensuring accused individuals have a fair trial.
• The submission suggests that accused individuals are being denied the opportunity to test the case against them and place before the jury the full context of the events.

Statistics:

• 2022: The year in which Andrew Keir and David Daly were convicted of rape.
• 2: The number of men whose cases were recently heard before the Supreme Court.
• 1985: The year in which Scotland introduced specific provisions to regulate the use of sexual history evidence.
• 1995: The year in which the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 was passed, repeating the provisions from the 1985 Act.
• 2002: The year in which the provisions in the 1995 Act were replaced by new sections 274 and 275.

Sources:

• The Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland.
• The Herald.
• Scots courts.
• The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
• Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.
• European Convention of Human Rights.