This paper contributes to contemporary debates on the admission of good character evidence on behalf of the accused in rape and sexual offence trials. Such evidence, of the accused’s ‘general reputation’, may be admitted at trial to bolster their credibility or as relevant to their propensity to act as charged, and can feature as a mitigating factor at sentencing.
While some view good character evidence as an important safeguard in the context of the accused’s right to a fair trial, others have called for such evidence to be banned due to the detrimental impact it can have on complainants and society’s wider understanding of the severity of sexual offences and the types of offenders who commit these crimes.
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