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Rape Crisis Scotland releases report on privacy rights for complainers of sexual offences in Scotland

Reporting sexual crime and going through the resulting criminal justice processes can be a daunting process.

Of particular concern to survivors of sexual crime is the prospect of their sexual history or personal aspects of their lives being brought up in court. There have been some key decisions by the courts in recent years which have highlighted the rights of complainers to privacy and raised important questions about how we assist complainers to assert these rights.

This report brings together key considerations and recommendations from a roundtable held in November 2020 which brought together agencies and academics to consider the question of whether complainers should have greater rights to legal representation when their privacy rights are at stake. The report recommends that consideration be given to introducing independent legal representation for complainers where applications are made to introduce their sexual history or character.