Clause 2 - Anonymity of defendant in rape etc. cases
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Mr Humfrey Malins (Woking, Conservative)
I shall put my answer in brackets, given that people in certain positions in society may be hit more heavily by an allegation—whether or not charged—than others in society. My best answer to the hon. Gentleman is that, for the purpose of my argument, I must limit the issue to rape, although I recognise that the problem area is wide.
I refer to the critical mischief, which is caused by the revelation before being charged that I have been taken in for questioning, and the evil of the publicity of such action. The whole issue of anonymity has changed over the years. In 1976, there was anonymity for the defendant in rape cases. Section 6 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 states:
''After a person is accused of a rape offence no matter likely to lead members of the public to identify him as the person against whom the accusation is made shall either be published in England and Wales in a written publication available to the public or be broadcast in England and Wales except . . . as authorised by a direction'',
or after the person has been convicted. That was the law in 1976. I suppose that the idea was to provide a level playing field between complainants and defendants, and to ensure that the accused did not have to suffer the social stigma that can arise from an allegation of rape. After the ghastly Morgan case, Mrs. Justice Heilbron recommended that complainants should also be anonymous. Part of her reason for that action was to encourage more complainants to come forward in rape cases. Whether that has happened, I do not know. I doubt it.
The other reason to recommend anonymity for complainants was the stigma that was caused. In effect, a level playing field was created for the defendant and the complainant. It was abolished in 1988, because Parliament decided that the defendant in rape cases should not be treated differently from any other defendant in a criminal case. Parliamentary
moods change every 10 or 15 years depending on what is going on in the society in which we live. When the anonymity rule was abolished for defendants, it was felt that a not guilty verdict should be fine to acquit a person of the stigma.
In conclusion I ask, are the current rules satisfactory? No, they are not; they are wholly unsatisfactory.