asked the Minister for Justice if he proposes to make any changes in the law dealing with rape; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Rape Law.
416.
I have recently received a submission on this subject from the Council for the Status of Women, which I am having examined.
I have also sought and received information from members of the Judiciary, court officers and others with experience of how rape trials, including cross examination of witnesses, are conducted in practice and this information will also be taken into account.
In the course of a reply to a similar question on 27 April, 1978, Volume 305, columns 1709-1710, I said the following:
I am very sympathetically disposed towards doing anything that can properly be done to reduce the extent to which victims of rape are subjected to unfair cross-examination but I am at the same time aware that there are problems inherent in any moves to restrict in any substantial way the right of cross-examination on what is an exceptionally serious charge.
That remains the position though I think it right to add that information recently supplied to me from the courts suggests that in recent years cross-examination is very carefully controlled.