Sexual Offences

The Court of Appeal has reserved its judgment on whether to alter the sentence of a man who was jailed for three years after raping his wife, who asked a judge not to send him to prison. The 38-year-old man was found guilty following a trial at the Central Criminal Court of raping and sexually assau

Complaints of sexual harassment by solicitors in England and Wales rose sharply in 2017/18 off the back of the #MeToo movement, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said. The regulator's Upholding Professional Standards 2017/18 report reveals that it received 70 complaints about sexual hara

The representative body for barristers has voiced concern about proposals to offer independent legal representation to complainants in rape and sexual assault cases. The Bar Council of Ireland has said it is concerned that the "addition of another legal team to the trial process is unlikely to impro

A man who was convicted of raping his 14-year-old niece when they were living in the same house in 2012 and 2013 has lost an appeal against his conviction. Finding that the man’s complaints regarding the trial judge’s charge and directions to the jury were not based in reality, Mr Justic

A judge in the Court of Appeal has said it was "almost inconceivable" that one of Ireland's most experienced criminal trial judges would simply forget to instruct the jury on the presumption of innocence in a rape trial. Mr Justice John Edwards yesterday quashed the conviction of Mohamed Okda, 33, w

A judge in the Court of Appeal has warned against “populist pressure” to pass a law that would limit the discretion of judges handing down sentences, The Times reports. A reform due to be passed in the Dáil this week would see judges forced to have regard to new sentencing guideli

On BBC Radio 4's Law in Action this week, Joshua Rozenberg looks at the topic of rape myths and juries. Do jurors believe in rape myths? A coalition campaigning to end violence against women said a third of people questioned in an opinion poll thought that sex without consent was

A Supreme Court judge has criticised the conduct of Irish rape trials for allowing denials from the accused to be read to the jury without cross-examination. Writing in the Irish Judicial Studies Journal, Mr Justice Peter Charleton and researcher Ciara Herlihy said the practice was not allowed in th

Lawyers for a convicted child rapist have told a High Court judge that rape victims are subject to criminal prosecution if they publish their own identity. Last March, a jury convicted a 41-year-old Wicklow man of repeated sexual attacks on a neighbouring child when she was aged approximately nine.

Lawyers for a convicted child rapist have contested a victim's request to waive her anonymity so that her abuser can be named. Last March, a jury convicted the 41-year-old Wicklow man of repeated sexual attacks on the victim. The two grew up as neighbours and the attacks began when the woman was age

Barristers heard from cervical cancer patient Vicky Phelan and rape survivor Leona O'Callaghan at a landmark conference on the experience of plaintiffs and victims in pursuit of access to justice through the legal system in Ireland. The Bar of Ireland's chairman's conference, "Laws & Effect", to

The disgraced former film producer Harvey Weinstein, 67, has reached a tentative settlement deal with the women who accuse him of sexual misconduct. Lawyers have said that the settlement to deal with the lawsuits and compensate plaintiffs totals about $44 million (£34.7m).

A rapist was given a suspended sentence in Newry Crown Court after his victim said she did not want his family to suffer. Eugene Gallagher, 44, admitted charges of rape and indecent assault between October 1990 and March 1991, when he was 16 and the anonymous victim was 15, BBC News reports.

The Court of Appeal in Belfast has found that a five-month sentence imposed on a man convicted of sexually assaulting his two-year-old son was unduly lenient. The man served just two-and-a-half months of his sentence, and was not subject to a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO).

Bullying and sexual harassment is "rife in the legal profession", according to a new study which surveyed nearly 7,000 legal professionals from 135 countries. The International Bar Association (IBA) and international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills today launched the Us Too? – Bullying and Se