Brief Background and Overview<\/p>\n
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA 2003) came into force on 1 May 2004 and repealed most sections of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. It represented\u00a0 \u2018a large-scale revision of the law of sexual offences.\u2019[1]<\/sup><\/a> The Act applies to England and Wales only. Scotland is covered by the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.<\/p>\n Political sociological context<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the introduction of the previous version of the SOA in 1956, the societal development brought not only the progress but also new challenges such as growing concerns over child sexual abuse[2]<\/sup><\/a> and new forms of sexual abuse, such as voyeurism.[3]<\/sup><\/a> These offences were not reflected in the SOA 1956 and were either not punishable at all or covered by other laws. In the words of the Home Office, the older law on sexual offences was \u2018archaic, incoherent and discriminatory\u2019[4]<\/sup><\/a> and \u2018simply a consolidation of nineteenth-century law.\u2019[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Legal Context <\/strong><\/p>\n The older law arguably lacked clarity: for example, the definition of consent was absent from the Act and was governed by common law and given the \u2018ordinary meaning.\u2019[6]<\/sup><\/a> In the years preceding the adoption of the SOA 2003, certain actions had been already taken by the Government to \u2018improve the arrangements to protect the public from sex offenders.\u2019[7]<\/sup><\/a> These included the introduction of the sex offender restraining orders and the establishment of the National Crime Squad.[8]<\/sup><\/a> However those measures were fragmented and not sufficient, as \u2018the number of persons found guilty of rape in comparison to the total number of offences reported had fallen from 25% in 1985 to 7% in 2000.\u2019[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 It was also believed that the lower penalties for sex offenders did not reflect the \u2018long term harm\u2019[10]<\/sup><\/a> caused by their crimes. The SOA 2003 was introduced with the aim of making a \u2018new provision about sexual offences, their prevention and the protection of children from harm from other sexual acts, and for connected purposes.\u2019[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n What main changes did it make to the law? <\/strong><\/p>\n The SAO 2003 has redefined and clarified a few terms as well as introduced new types of sexual offences.<\/p>\n New Terms and Clarifications<\/em><\/p>\n First, the definition of rape has been widened to include penetration to \u2018mouth of another person\u2019[12]<\/sup><\/a> (along with vagina and anus already included in SOA 1956).[13]<\/sup><\/a> The new Act also made it clear that a \u2018surgically constructed\u2019[14]<\/sup><\/a> vagina was included within the definition of vagina. The Act therefore reflected the realities of the modern-day world by expanding its powers to \u2018male to female\u2019 transsexual people.[15]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Second, the Act provided the definition of consent which includes \u2018the freedom and capacity to make\u2019[16]<\/sup><\/a> such consent.The burden of proof provisions have been altered as well. Section 75 introduced a number of \u2018evidential presumptions\u2019 with regards to the consent.[17]<\/sup><\/a> It defined circumstances under which the consent was presumed to not have been given. The burden of proof thus shifted from the complainant to the defendant.[18]<\/sup><\/a> Such circumstances included for example, violence or threat of violence preceding the act,[19]<\/sup><\/a> and the complainant being asleep or otherwise unconscious[20]<\/sup><\/a>. Section 76 further provided circumstances for \u2018conclusive presumptions about consent\u2019 including the deceit of the \u2018nature or purpose of relevant act\u2019[21]<\/sup><\/a> or impersonation of a person previously known to the complainant.[22]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Third, the Act introduced the extraterritorial application by stipulating that the UK citizens that committed an act that would amount to sexual offence under the SOA 2003 outside the UK, could still be prosecuted as if they had committed it on the UK territory.[23]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n New Offences<\/em><\/p>\n The SOA 2003 has also created new types of sexual offences that have not been previously included, such as the assault by penetration,[24]<\/sup><\/a> non-consensual voyeurism,[25]<\/sup><\/a> sexual penetration of a corpse[26]<\/sup><\/a> and others. The assault by penetration is different from rape in that the latter required the defendant\u2019s penis to be penetrated, while the former can be done with \u2018a part of a body or anything else.\u2019[27]<\/sup><\/a> Voyeurism has traditionally been seen as nuisance and a public decency matter and only later considered a \u2018sexual perversion or deviation.\u2019[28]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The inclusion of the sexual penetration of a corpse was subject to a heated debate in the House of Lords.[29]<\/sup><\/a> While being regarded as a minor offence with a maximum imprisonment term of 2 years,[30]<\/sup><\/a> it does not require penetration into vagina, anus, or mouth but rather \u2013 into any part of the corpse.<\/p>\n The Act offered stronger protection to children. It changed the definition of \u2018child\u2019 by amending the age from under 16 to under 18.[31]<\/sup><\/a>It created new offences related to child prostitution[32]<\/sup><\/a> and making indecent photographs of children,[33]<\/sup><\/a> sexual activities with a child family member,[34]<\/sup><\/a>and \u2018meeting a child following sexual grooming.\u2019[35]<\/sup><\/a>The new types of offences against children included the abuse of the position of trust, which include sexual activity with a child[36]<\/sup><\/a> or in his presence[37]<\/sup><\/a> as well as \u2018causing a child to watch a sexual act\u2019[38]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n The Act also introduced provisions further related to prostitution, including \u2018causing or inciting prostitution for gain\u2019[39]<\/sup><\/a> and \u2018keeping a brothel.\u2019[40]<\/sup><\/a> The new offences introduced also included sex trafficking related acts into, within, and out of the UK.[41]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Finally, it is important to note that homosexual sex has been removed by omitting the previous Act\u2019s sections on \u2018buggery\u2019 and \u2018indecency between men.\u2019[42]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Key Sections <\/strong><\/p>\n The Act consisted of 3 Parts. Part 1 set out the range of sexual offences. It covered the rape, assault by penetration, causing sexual activity without consent, sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. It also covered child sex offences and offences involving an abuse of a position of trust towards a child. It separated the offences committed against children under 13, familial child sex offences, and offences involving the abuse of the position of trust. It included provisions on sexual offences against people with mental disorders, prostitution, trafficking, and preparatory offences.<\/p>\n Part 2 regulated the notification requirements for the persons convicted of a sex offence crime (or found not guilty by the way of insanity or is disabled but charged with such an offence)[43]<\/sup><\/a> and formerly subject to the Sex Offenders Act 2007.[44]<\/sup><\/a> It prescribed notification periods, requirements, and methods.<\/p>\n Part 3 contained some general provisions including service courts, minor and consequential amendments, and commencement provisions.<\/p>\n Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n Gillespie AA, \u2018\u201cUp-Skirts\u201d and \u201cDown-Blouses\u201d: Voyeurism and the Law\u2019 [2008] Crim LR 370<\/p>\n Herring J, \u2018Crimes Against the Dead\u2019 in Belinda Brooks-Gordon and others (eds), Death Rites and Rights<\/em> (Hart Publishing 2007)<\/p>\n Herring J, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials<\/em> (6th edn, OUP 2014)<\/p>\n Home Office, Protecting the Public: Strengthening Protection Against Sex Offenders and Reforming the Law on Sexual Offence<\/em> (White Paper, Cm 5668 2002)<\/p>\n Ost S, \u2018Getting to Grips with Sexual Grooming? The New Offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003\u2019 (2004) 26 J Social Welfare & Family L 147<\/p>\n Regina v Olugboja<\/em> [1982] QB 320, [1981] 3 All ER 443<\/p>\n Sexual Offences Act 1956<\/p>\n Sexual Offences Act 2003<\/p>\n \u2018The Sexual Offences Act 2003\u2019 [2004] Crim LR 79<\/p>\n [1]<\/sup><\/a>\u2018The Sexual Offences Act 2003\u2019 [2004] Crim LR 79.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [2]<\/sup><\/a>Suzanne Ost, \u2018Getting to Grips with Sexual Grooming? The New Offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003\u2019 (2004) 26 J Social Welfare & Family L 147.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [3]<\/sup><\/a>Alisdair A Gillespie, \u2018\u201cUp-Skirts\u201d and \u201cDown-Blouses\u201d: Voyeurism and the Law\u2019 [2008] Crim LR 370.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [4]<\/sup><\/a>Home Office, Protecting the Public: Strengthening Protection Against Sex Offenders and Reforming the Law on Sexual Offence<\/em> (White Paper, Cm 5668 2002) 9.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [5]<\/sup><\/a>ibid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [6]<\/sup><\/a>Regina v Olugboja<\/em> [1982] QB 320, [1981] 3 All ER 443 (Dunn LJ).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [7]<\/sup><\/a>Home Office (n 4) 7.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [8]<\/sup><\/a>ibid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [9]<\/sup><\/a>ibid 9.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [10]<\/sup><\/a>ibid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [11]<\/sup><\/a>Sexual Offences Act 2003.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [12]<\/sup><\/a>Sexual Offences Act 2003 sec 1 (SOA 2003).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [13]<\/sup><\/a>Sexual Offences Act 1956 sec 1.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [14]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 79(3).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [15]<\/sup><\/a>Jonathan Herring, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials<\/em> (6th edn, OUP 2014) 420.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [16]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 74.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [17]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 75.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [18]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 75(2).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [19]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 75(2)(a, b).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [20]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 75(2)(d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [21]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 76 (2)(a).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [22]<\/sup><\/a>SOA 2003 s 76 (2)(b).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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