England: One third of barristers believe laws prohibiting complainant-questioning could prejudice defendants

Responding to a survey published today, barristers said that the rules that stop complainants being questioned on their sexual behaviour are unclear and result in “serious unfairness to the defendant”.

The poll was commissioned in the wake of the Ched Evans case in 2016 and was conducted by Laura Hoyano, a barrister and associate professor of law at Oxford University. In that case, the complainant was cross-examined over her sexual history, a practice generally disallowed.

The survey of 140 barristers involved 377 cases as well as 565 complainants.

Twenty-seven per cent of respondents said that the ban on questioning is not working, while 36 per cent thought the law ought to be made clearer.

However, none of the barristers wanted the law on questioning accusers made more restrictive.

Sixty per cent said that the law was working in the interests of justice, though 36 per cent complained it was too complex.