Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976

1976 CHAPTER 82

An Act to amend the law relating to rape.

[22nd November 1976]

1 Meaning of “rape” etc

(1)For the purposes of section 1 of the M1Sexual Offences Act 1956 (which relates to rape) a man commits rape if—

(a)he has unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman who at the time of the intercourse does not consent to it; and

(b)at that time he knows that she does not consent to the intercourse or he is reckless as to whether she consents to it;

and references to rape in other enactments (including the following provisions of this Act) shall be construed accordingly.

(2)It is hereby declared that if at a trial for a rape offence the jury has to consider whether a man believed that a woman was consenting to sexual intercourse, the presence or absence of reasonable grounds for such a belief is a matter to which the jury is to have regard, in conjunction with any other relevant matters, in considering whether he so believed.

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4 Anonymity of complainants in rape etc cases

[F1(1)Except as authorised by a direction given in pursuance of this section—

(a)after an allegation that a woman [F2or man] has been the victim of a rape offence has been made by the woman [F2or man] or by any other person, neither the [F3name nor the address of the woman or man] nor a still or moving picture of her [F2or him] shall during [F3that person’s lifetime]—

(i)be published in England and Wales in a written publication available to the public; or

(ii)be [F4included in a relevant programme for reception] in England and Wales,

if that is likely to lead members of the public to [F3identify that person] as an alleged victim of such an offence; and

(b)after a person is accused of a rape offence, no matter likely to lead members of the public to identify a woman [F5or man] as the complainant in relation to that accusation shall during [F6that person’s lifetime]—

(i)be published in England and Wales in a written publication available to the public; or

(ii)be [F4included in a relevant programme for reception] in England and Wales;

but nothing in this subsection prohibits the publication or [F4inclusion in a relevant programme] of matter consisting only of a report of criminal proceedings other than proceedings at, or intended to lead to, or on an appeal arising out of, a trial at which the accused is charged with the offence.

(1A)In subsection (1) above “picture” includes a likeness however produced.]

(2)If, before the commencement of a trial at which a person is charged with a rape offence, he or another person against whom the complainant may be expected to give evidence at the trial applies to a judge of the Crown Court for a direction in pursuance of this subsection and satisfies the judge—

(a)that the direction is required for the purpose of inducing persons to come forward who are likely to be needed as witnesses at the trial; and

(b)that the conduct of the applicant’s defence at the trial is likely to be substantially prejudiced if the direction is not given,

the judge shall direct that the preceding subsection shall not, by virtue of the accusation alleging the offence aforesaid, apply in relation to the complainant.

(3)If at a trial . . . F7the judge is satisfied that the effect of subsection (1) of this section is to impose a substantial and unreasonable restriction upon the reporting of proceedings at the trial and that it is in the public interest to remove or relax the restriction, he shall direct that that subsection shall not apply to such matter . . . F7as is specified in the direction; but a direction shall not be given in pursuance of this subsection by reason only of [F8the outcome of]the trial.

(4)If a person who has been convicted of an offence and given notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal against the conviction, or notice of an application for leave so to appeal, applies to the Court of Appeal for a direction in pursuance of this subsection and satisfies the Court—

(a)that the direction is required for the purpose of obtaining evidence in support of the appeal; and

(b)that the applicant is likely to suffer substantial injustice if the direction is not given,

the Court shall direct that subsection (1) of this section shall not, by virtue of an accusation which alleges a rape offence and is specified in the direction, apply in relation to a complainant so specified.

(5)If any matter is published [F9or included in a relevant programme]in contranvention of subsection (1) of this section, the following persons, namely—

(a)in the case of a publication in a newspaper or periodical, any proprietor, any editor and any publisher of the newspaper or periodical;

(b)in the case of any other publication, the person who publishes it; and

[F10and

(c)in the case of matter included in a relevant programme, any body corporate which is engaged in providing the service in which the programme is included and any person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of an editor of a newspaper,]

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F11level 5 on the standard scale]

[F12(5A)Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (5) of this section in respect of the publication [F13of any matter or the inclusion of any matter in a relevant programme,] it shall be a defence, subject to subsection (5B) below, to prove that the publication [F13or programme] in which the matter appeared was one in respect of which the woman [F14or man] had given written consent to the appearance of matter of that description.

(5B)Written consent is not a defence if it is proved that any person interfered unreasonably with the [F15peace or comfort of the woman or man] with intent to obtain the consent.]

(6)For the purposes of this section a person is accused of a rape offence if—

(a)an information is laid alleging that he has committed a rape offence; or

(b)he appears before a court charged with a rape offence; or

(c)a court before which he is appearing [F16transfers proceedings against him for trial for] a new charge alleging a rape offence; or

(d)a bill of indictment charging him with a rape offence is preferred before a court in which he may lawfully be indicted for the offence,

and references in this section and section 7(5) of this Act to an accusation alleging a rape offence shall be construed accordingly; and in this section—

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• “complainant”, in relation to a person accused of a rape offence or an accusation alleging a rape offence, means the woman [F19or man] against whom the offence is alleged to have been committed; and

• [F20“relevant programme” means a programme included in a programme service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1990);]

• “written publication” includes a film, a sound track and any other record in permanent form but does not include an indictment or other document prepared for use in particular legal proceedings.

[ F21(6A)For the purposes of this section, where it is alleged or there is an accusation that an offence of incitement to rape or conspiracy to rape has been committed, the person who is alleged to have been the intended victim of the rape shall be regarded as the alleged victim of the incitement or conspiracy or, in the case of an accusation, as the complainant.]

(7)Nothing in this section—

(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F22

(b)affects any prohibition or restriction imposed by virtue of any other enactment upon a publication [F23or upon matter included in a relevant programme];

and a direction in pursuance of this section does not affect the operation of subsection (1) of this section at any time before the direction is given.

5 Provisions supplementary to s. 4

(1)In relation to a person charged with a rape offence in pursuance of any provision of the M1Naval Discipline Act 1957, the M2Army Act 1955 or the M3Air Force Act 1955, the preceding section shall have effect with the following modifications, namely—

(a)any reference to a trial or a trial before the Crown Court shall be construed as a reference to a trial by court–martial;

(b)in subsection (1) after the word “Wales” in [F1all]places there shall be inserted the words “or Northern Ireland”;

(c)for any reference in subsection (2) to a judge of the Crown Court there shall be substituted a reference to the officer who is authorised to convene or has convened a court–martial for the trial of the offence (or, if after convening it he has ceased to hold the appointment by virtue of which he convened it, the officer holding that appointment) and for any reference in subsection (3) to such a judge there shall be substituted a reference to the court;

(d)for any reference in subsection (4) to the Court of Appeal there shall be substituted a reference to the Courts–Martial Appeal Court; and

(e)in subsection (6) for paragraphs (a) to (d) there shall be substituted the words “he is charged with a rape offence in pursuance of any provision of the Naval Discipline Act 1957, the Army Act 1955 or the Air Force Act 1955”.

(2)If after the commencement of a trial at which a person is charged with a rape offence a new trial of the person for that offence is ordered, the commencement of any previous trial at which he was charged with that offence shall be disregarded for the purposes of subsection (2) of the preceding section.

(3)In relation to a conviction of an offence tried summarily as mentioned in section 3(3) of this Act, for references to the Court of Appeal in subsection (4) of the preceding section there shall be substituted references to the Crown Court and the reference to notice of an application for leave to appeal shall be omitted.

(4)When an offence under subsection (5) of the preceding section which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members the preceding provisions of this subsection shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

(5)Proceedings for an offence under subsection (5) of the preceding section (including such an offence which is alleged to have been committed by virtue of the preceding subsection) shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Attorney General or, if the offence is alleged to have been committed in Northern Ireland, of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland; and where a person is charged with such an offence it shall be a defence to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he was not aware, and neither suspected nor had reason to suspect, that the publication [F2or programme in question was of, or (as the case may be) included,]such matter as is mentioned in subsection (1) of that section.

[F3(6)In section 31(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 M4 (which provides that certain powers of the Court of Appeal may be exercised by a single judge) after the word “1973” there shall be inserted the words “and the power to give directions under section 4(4) of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976” ; and in section 36(1) of the Courts–Martial (Appeals) Act 1968 M5 (which provides that certain powers of the Courts–Martial Appeal Court may be exercised by a single judge) after paragraph (g) there shall be inserted the words “and the power to give directions under section 4(4) of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 as adapted by section 5(1)(d) of that Act”.]

6 Anonymity of defendants in rape etc cases

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7 Citation, interpretation, commencement and extent

(1)This Act may be cited as the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976, and this Act and the Sexual Offences Acts 1956 and 1967 may be cited together as the Sexual Offences Acts 1956 to 1976.

(2)In this Act—

• “a rape offence” means any of the following, namely, rape, attempted rape, aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring rape or attempted rape, [F1incitement to rape, conspiracy to rape and burglary with intent to rape]; and

• F2. . .

[F3section 46 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956] (which relates to the meaning of “man” and “woman” in that Act) shall have effect as if the reference to that Act included a reference to this Act.

(3)In relation to such a trial as is mentioned in subsection (2) of section 1 of this Act which is a trial by court–martial or a summary trial by a magistrates’ court, references to the jury in that subsection shall be construed as references to the court.

(4)This Act shall come into force on the expiration of the period of one month beginning with the date on which it is passed, except that sections 5(1)(b) . . . F4 shall come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may appoint by order made by statutory instrument.

(5)Sections 2 and 3 of this Act shall not have effect in relation to a trial or inquiry which begins before the expiration of that period and sections 4 . . . F5of this Act shall not have effect in relation to an accusation alleging a rape offence which is made before the expiration of that period.

(6)This Act, except so far as it relates to courts–martial and the Courts–Martial Appeal Court, shall not extend to Scotland and this Act, except so far as it relates to courts–martial and the Courts–Martial Appeal Court [F6and to such a publication or [F7in, or such an inclusion of matter in a relevant programme for reception in,] in Northern Ireland as is mentioned in section 4(1) as adapted by section 5(1)(b)], shall not extend to Northern Ireland.