WUNRN
1 December 2010
SCOTLAND - NEW SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT
NOW IN FORCE
Police chiefs have said the new law would increase the number of reported rapes.
A new Act on sexual offences, which
include for the first time a legal definition of consent, has come into force
in
The Sexual Offences (
The Act also gives a legal recognition of male rape.
Rape Crisis
Crown Office figures indicated that 35% of rape cases brought to court resulted in a rape conviction in 2007-08.
But statistics obtained by Rape Crisis
These figures include cases where more than one complaint was made, or where a charge of rape was reduced to a more minor offence.
The police chiefs' organisation Acpos said the implementation of the new law would increase the number of reported rapes.
A raft of new crimes have now been
enacted by the act, including coercing others to engage in any form of sexual
activity without their consent, forcing someone to view pornography, to have
sex while someone else is watching or sending sexually explicit e-mails or
texts.
The law also includes "protective
measures" to safeguard those with limited or no capacity to consent due to
their young age or a mental disorder.
And sexual exposure - commonly known as
"flashing" - is also now legally prohibited by statute.
The new powers will also clamp down on
"sex tourism" by enabling the prosecution of any Scot who procures
sex with a minor abroad, and also allows law enforcement agencies to pursue
Scots who commit a sex crime - as defined under Scots law - on anyone under 18
anywhere in the world, regardless of the law in that country.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
"Sexual offences are among the most appalling imaginable, particularly
when the victims are among the more vulnerable members of our communities.
"Until now, sexual offences law has
been a complex mix of common law and statute. This act therefore improves
public safety and helps the victims of sexual crimes by bringing clarity and
increased certainty to prosecutions."
Assistant Chief Constable Iain
Livingstone, from the Association of Chief Police Officers in
"However, with this should come
acknowledgement that a broader definition will result in an increase in police
recorded figures for rape."
Sandy Brindley, national co-ordinator for
Rape Crisis
"Another really important area the
law looks at in terms of consent is whether someone is too drunk to consent to
sex," she said.
"I think this is where the law has a
really important educational function."
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Analysis
Reevel
Alderson
The new law on sexual offences includes for the first time a legal definition of rape, and recognises men as well as women can be victims.
It also lays out what is meant by consent to sexual intercourse; what it calls "free agreement."
It says if a person is incapable through alcohol or drugs, or is asleep or unconscious, they can not be said to have given their free agreement.
The act also introduces onto the statute book offences such as voyeurism and flashing.
Like rape itself, these have previously been prosecuted under Common Law, which is uncodified and therefore less specific.
For instance, peeping Tom activity - voyeurism - could have been prosecuted under breach of the peace.
But there have been challenges to that law as it is seen as a catch-all legal provision.
Other offences outlined in the Act include
the sending of indecent images by computer or text for the sexual gratification
of the sender, and sexual coercion - forcing someone into sexual activity or
making them be present when sexual activity was taking place.
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