Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, under what circumstances in cases involving historical sexual abuse are victims entitled to have character references used in their defence.

Tackling historical sexual abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice is a government priority.

Some victims of historical sexual abuse may be called to give evidence in criminal trials however a victim is not a party to a criminal case, as the Crown prosecutes. Victims and witnesses are not required to defend themselves or provide evidence to support their statements.

Rules of evidence do not permit the Crown to call evidence of the good character of a prosecution witness in order to bolster their credibility where it is not relevant to an issue in the case.

If the defendant attacks the character of a witness, evidence of the defendant’s bad character may be admissible as evidence.