Law Commission calls for tighter rules on use of personal records in rape trials

Review recommends legislative changes in England and Wales to counteract ‘pernicious’ myths contaminating court cases

Greater restrictions should be introduced on the use of rape complainants’ personal records and evidence relating to their sexual behaviour to avoid rape myths contaminating trials in England and Wales, a government-commissioned review has said.

The Law Commission suggested that legislative change was necessary to address the decline in rape prosecution and conviction rates since 2016, warning that “pernicious” myths and misconceptions about rape and sexual assaults “filter through the breadth and depth of the criminal justice system”.