Fear of mass appeals by rapists after Supreme Court’s ruling

Scotland’s criminal cases watchdog has warned that the Supreme Court’s ruling on rape shield laws could prompt a large number of appeals against rape and serious sexual offence convictions. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) has asked justice agencies to preserve case files while it assesses applications, amid concerns about the scale of the work and its effect on victims.

The watchdog has received 44 applications linked to the ruling, a 69 per cent rise in two months. Of these, 18 were rejected at an initial stage, 14 are undergoing full review and 12 remain under assessment; none has yet been referred back to the High Court. The ruling, made last November, found that Scotland’s restrictive application of rules on evidence about complainers’ sexual histories risked breaching defendants’ fair trial rights.