A Spotlight on the Lord Advocate’s Reference No 1 of 2023

About the Seminar

This seminar will cover the decision of the High Court in Lord Advocate's Reference (No 1 of 2023), holding that - overruling the earlier case of Smith v Lees - the complainer's lack of consent in a sexual offence prosecution can be corroborated by evidence of their distress. The seminar will cover the basis of the decision and its relationship with prior authority and the institutional writers, its implications and the potential for future development by the appeal court, and the wider context of law reform relating to sexual offence prosecutions.

About the Speaker - Professor James Chalmers (University of Glasgow)

James Chalmers is Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow, and is co-author of new editions of Walker and Walker: The Law of Evidence in Scotland and Gordon's Criminal Law of Scotland.