The Supreme Court has delivered a significant judgment concerning the law of evidence in Scotland. In a unanimous judgment concerning the admissibility of evidence in prosecutions for sexual offences, the Supreme Court held that “the common law of Scotland in relation to the admission of evidence in trials for sexual offences, as currently applied, is liable to result in violations of the rights of the accused under article 6” of the ECHR. Accordingly, the Court held that “the Scottish courts are under a duty to modify their current approach so as to ensure that decisions on the admissibility of evidence are in conformity with the Convention”.
Aidan O’Neill KC and Edward Craven KC represented the first appellant before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s judgment is available here. The Court’s press summary of the judgment is here.