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"A lot of the work that I do is historic-the maximum sentences change at different points of time. It's really complicated and people get it wrong all the time. That's when having a timeline is really useful."

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GLOSSARY

Rape definition

What does Rape mean?

Rape is the intentional, penile penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of another without that person's consent and without reasonable belief that that person is consenting.

A person commits rape if he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (male or female) with the penis and that other person does not consent to the penetration and the penetrator does not reasonably believe that that other person is consenting: Sexual Offences Act 2003, s 1.“… a person consents if he or she agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice”: SOA 2003, s 74. In certain circumstances (listed in SOA 2003, s 75(2)) the complainant is taken not to have consented unless sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue as to whether the complainant consented. In certain other circumstances (involving deception) (specified in SOA 2003, s 76(2)) lack of consent is conclusively presumed.

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Rape

The old law and the new law of rapeThroughout this Practice Note, reference is made to the old and new law of rape. The old law is divided into three periods, depending on when offences were committed:•1 January 1957 to 21 December 1976 fall under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 (SOA 1956). Consolidated statutes. Amended by Sexual Offences Act 1967 in relation to homosexual acts•22 December 1976 to 2 November 1994 fall under the section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 (SO(A)A 1994)•3 November 1994 to 30 April 2004 fall under the SOA 1956, s 1 (as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA 1994))The new law applies from 1 May 2004 onwards and covers offences falling under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA 2003).Elements of the offence of rape under the old lawFor offences charged under the old law, the prosecution must prove that:•the defendant penetrated the vagina or anus of the complainant with his penis•when the...

Sentencing for rape

The Sentencing Council (SC) produces guidance on sentencing for courts in England and Wales in the form of offence specific sentencing guidelines for use in the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court. This Practice Note considers the approach to sentencing for the offences of rape contrary to section 1 of Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA 2003) and rape of a child under 13 contrary to SOA 2003, s 5. For information about the elements of the offence of rape under SOA 2003, s 1, see Practice Note: Rape.For information about the sentencing of sexual offences other than rape, see Practice Note: Sentencing guidelines for sexual offences.Sentencing (for both adult and child rape) under the Sexual Offences Act 2003The offence of rape is triable on indictment only and the maximum sentence for rape is life imprisonment. This is a serious, specified and listed offence for the purposes of the dangerous offender provisions in the Sentencing Act 2020 (SA 2020), also known as the Sentencing Code.The SC has published offence specific sentencing...

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Immigration weekly highlights—8 May 2025

Welcome to the 8 May 2025 highlights from the Immigration team, which provides links to key news stories from the last week, as well as a round-up of new and updated content in Immigration.

Corporate Crime weekly highlights—17 April 2025

This week's edition of Corporate Crime weekly highlights includes analysis of the first UK convictions and sentences for breaches of Russian sanctions and of the recently enacted Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 and how it significantly strengthens regulation of the water industry in England and Wales. Also included is news of a UK insurance company charged with failure to prevent bribery in a prosecution brought by the SFO, of the publication of OFSI’s threat assessment report on financial sanctions in the property sector, of corporate manslaughter charges brought against the parent company of a holiday park and of the UK's first INTERPOL Silver Notice issued to trace and recover a fraudster's global assets. All this, and more, in this week’s Corporate Crime highlights.

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