Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure the anonymity of defendants in the case of rape and sexual assault.

In 1976, Parliament enacted legislation that prohibited the identification of complainants and defendants in rape cases. Twelve years later, however, the provision for anonymity of defendants was repealed, on the grounds that their situation was not comparable to that of complainants, who might not be willing to come forward and give evidence if their identity were revealed. There are no current plans to revisit this decision.