Key takeaways
- Important revisions: After we initiated legal action, the DPP agreed to amend and update its guidance.
- CPS guidance criticised: The judges called sections of the guidance that the DPP defended “surprising”, and overly sympathetic towards rape suspects, noting that the text presented suspects as if they were vulnerable persons rather than suspects facing criminal allegations.
- Consent is legally complex: The High Court stopped short of declaring the guidance unlawful, but the judges acknowledged that the criminal law concerning consent obtained by deception remains complex.
- Judicial review appropriate: The High Court rejected the DPP’s argument that the drafting of the Rape and Sexual Offences prosecution guidance was not the kind of thing that could be challenged by judicial review.
- Standing confirmed: The court recognised Sex Matters’ legal standing to bring this challenge, noted our expertise on the legal boundaries of sex and gender and thanked our legal team, Sarah Vine KC and Chris Knight KC (as well as the other side’s legal team) for the “very high quality of the submissions”.
Full article at https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/judgment-in-our-case-about-guidance-on-sexual-consent/