September 8, 2025
Professor Susan Edwards (Northumbria University and RLC Associate Tenant) has published a blog analysing the Law Commission’s landmark report Evidence in Sexual Offences Prosecutions which was released earlier this year.
In her commentary, Professor Edwards describes the report as a “critical moment in the journey toward fairer, more trauma-informed trials,” welcoming its 72 recommendations as both ambitious and pragmatic. She highlights proposals for specialist courts, enhanced judicial training, reforms to the treatment of sexual behaviour evidence and a renewed focus on complainants’ privacy and dignity. Notably, she supports the report’s emphasis on correcting myths and stereotypes in jury trials and its commitment to preserving the right to trial by jury in serious sexual offence cases.
Read the full blog here: Analysis of the Law Commission’s Report – Professor Susan Edwards