Office of Public Sector Information
PART 1 continued
Schedule 1 (extension of gender-specific prostitution offences) has effect.
(1) A person commits an offence if he intentionally arranges or facilitates the arrival in the United Kingdom of another person (B) and either—
(a) he intends to do anything to or in respect of B, after B’s arrival but in any part of the world, which if done will involve the commission of a relevant offence, or
(b) he believes that another person is likely to do something to or in respect of B, after B’s arrival but in any part of the world, which if done will involve the commission of a relevant offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if he intentionally arranges or facilitates travel within the United Kingdom by another person (B) and either—
(a) he intends to do anything to or in respect of B, during or after the journey and in any part of the world, which if done will involve the commission of a relevant offence, or
(b) he believes that another person is likely to do something to or in respect of B, during or after the journey and in any part of the world, which if done will involve the commission of a relevant offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if he intentionally arranges or facilitates the departure from the United Kingdom of another person (B) and either—
(a) he intends to do anything to or in respect of B, after B’s departure but in any part of the world, which if done will involve the commission of a relevant offence, or
(b) he believes that another person is likely to do something to or in respect of B, after B’s departure but in any part of the world, which if done will involve the commission of a relevant offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.
(1) In sections 57 to 59, “relevant offence” means—
(a) an offence under this Part,
(b) an offence under section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978 (c. 37),
(c) an offence listed in Schedule 1 to the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1504 (N.I. 9)),
(d) an offence under Article 3(1)(a) of the Protection of Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1047 (N.I. 17)), or
(e) anything done outside England and Wales and Northern Ireland which is not an offence within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) but would be if done in England and Wales or Northern Ireland.
(2) Sections 57 to 59 apply to anything done—
(a) in the United Kingdom, or
(b) outside the United Kingdom, by a body incorporated under the law of a part of the United Kingdom or by an individual to whom subsection (3) applies.
(3) This subsection applies to—
(a) a British citizen,
(b) a British overseas territories citizen,
(c) a British National (Overseas),
(d) a British Overseas citizen,
(e) a person who is a British subject under the British Nationality Act 1981 (c. 61),
(f) a British protected person within the meaning given by section 50(1) of that Act.
(1) A person commits an offence if he intentionally administers a substance to, or causes a substance to be taken by, another person (B)—
(a) knowing that B does not consent, and
(b) with the intention of stupefying or overpowering B, so as to enable any person to engage in a sexual activity that involves B.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
(1) A person commits an offence under this section if he commits any offence with the intention of committing a relevant sexual offence.
(2) In this section, “relevant sexual offence” means any offence under this Part (including an offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring such an offence).
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment, where the offence is committed by kidnapping or false imprisonment, to imprisonment for life.
(4) Unless subsection (3) applies, a person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he is a trespasser on any premises,
(b) he intends to commit a relevant sexual offence on the premises, and
(c) he knows that, or is reckless as to whether, he is a trespasser.
(2) In this section—
“premises” includes a structure or part of a structure;
“relevant sexual offence” has the same meaning as in section 62;
“structure” includes a tent, vehicle or vessel or other temporary or movable structure.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
(1) A person aged 16 or over (A) commits an offence if—
(a) he intentionally penetrates another person’s vagina or anus with a part of his body or anything else, or penetrates another person’s mouth with his penis,
(b) the penetration is sexual,
(c) the other person (B) is aged 18 or over,
(d) A is related to B in a way mentioned in subsection (2), and
(e) A knows or could reasonably be expected to know that he is related to B in that way.
(2) The ways that A may be related to B are as parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.
(3) In subsection (2)—
(a) “uncle” means the brother of a person’s parent, and “aunt” has a corresponding meaning;
(b) “nephew” means the child of a person’s brother or sister, and “niece” has a corresponding meaning.
(4) Where in proceedings for an offence under this section it is proved that the defendant was related to the other person in any of those ways, it is to be taken that the defendant knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that he was related in that way unless sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue as to whether he knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that he was.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
(1) A person aged 16 or over (A) commits an offence if—
(a) another person (B) penetrates A’s vagina or anus with a part of B’s body or anything else, or penetrates A’s mouth with B’s penis,
(b) A consents to the penetration,
(c) the penetration is sexual,
(d) B is aged 18 or over,
(e) A is related to B in a way mentioned in subsection (2), and
(f) A knows or could reasonably be expected to know that he is related to B in that way.
(2) The ways that A may be related to B are as parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.
(3) In subsection (2)—
(a) “uncle” means the brother of a person’s parent, and “aunt” has a corresponding meaning;
(b) “nephew” means the child of a person’s brother or sister, and “niece” has a corresponding meaning.
(4) Where in proceedings for an offence under this section it is proved that the defendant was related to the other person in any of those ways, it is to be taken that the defendant knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that he was related in that way unless sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue as to whether he knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that he was.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he intentionally exposes his genitals, and
(b) he intends that someone will see them and be caused alarm or distress.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, he observes another person doing a private act, and
(b) he knows that the other person does not consent to being observed for his sexual gratification.
(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he operates equipment with the intention of enabling another person to observe, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, a third person (B) doing a private act, and
(b) he knows that B does not consent to his operating equipment with that intention.
(3) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he records another person (B) doing a private act,
(b) he does so with the intention that he or a third person will, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, look at an image of B doing the act, and
(c) he knows that B does not consent to his recording the act with that intention.
(4) A person commits an offence if he instals equipment, or constructs or adapts a structure or part of a structure, with the intention of enabling himself or another person to commit an offence under subsection (1).
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
(1) For the purposes of section 67, a person is doing a private act if the person is in a place which, in the circumstances, would reasonably be expected to provide privacy, and—
(a) the person’s genitals, buttocks or breasts are exposed or covered only with underwear,
(b) the person is using a lavatory, or
(c) the person is doing a sexual act that is not of a kind ordinarily done in public.
(2) In section 67, “structure” includes a tent, vehicle or vessel or other temporary or movable structure.
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he intentionally performs an act of penetration with his penis,
(b) what is penetrated is the vagina or anus of a living animal, and
(c) he knows that, or is reckless as to whether, that is what is penetrated.
(2) A person (A) commits an offence if—
(a) A intentionally causes, or allows, A’s vagina or anus to be penetrated,
(b) the penetration is by the penis of a living animal, and
(c) A knows that, or is reckless as to whether, that is what A is being penetrated by.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he intentionally performs an act of penetration with a part of his body or anything else,
(b) what is penetrated is a part of the body of a dead person,
(c) he knows that, or is reckless as to whether, that is what is penetrated, and
(d) the penetration is sexual.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he is in a lavatory to which the public or a section of the public has or is permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise,
(b) he intentionally engages in an activity, and,
(c) the activity is sexual.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an activity is sexual if a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person’s purpose, consider it to be sexual.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), any act done by a person in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom which—
(a) constituted an offence under the law in force in that country or territory, and
(b) would constitute a sexual offence to which this section applies if it had been done in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland,
constitutes that sexual offence under the law of that part of the United Kingdom.
(2) Proceedings by virtue of this section may be brought only against a person who was on 1st September 1997, or has since become, a British citizen or resident in the United Kingdom.
(3) An act punishable under the law in force in any country or territory constitutes an offence under that law for the purposes of this section, however it is described in that law.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), the condition in subsection (1)(a) is to be taken to be met unless, not later than rules of court may provide, the defendant serves on the prosecution a notice—
(a) stating that, on the facts as alleged with respect to the act in question, the condition is not in his opinion met,
(b) showing his grounds for that opinion, and
(c) requiring the prosecution to prove that it is met.
(5) The court, if it thinks fit, may permit the defendant to require the prosecution to prove that the condition is met without service of a notice under subsection (4).
(6) In the Crown Court the question whether the condition is met is to be decided by the judge alone.
(7) Schedule 2 lists the sexual offences to which this section applies.
(1) A person is not guilty of aiding, abetting or counselling the commission against a child of an offence to which this section applies if he acts for the purpose of—
(a) protecting the child from sexually transmitted infection,
(b) protecting the physical safety of the child,
(c) preventing the child from becoming pregnant, or
(d) promoting the child’s emotional well-being by the giving of advice,
and not for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification or for the purpose of causing or encouraging the activity constituting the offence or the child’s participation in it.
(2) This section applies to—
(a) an offence under any of sections 5 to 7 (offences against children under 13);
(b) an offence under section 9 (sexual activity with a child);
(c) an offence under section 13 which would be an offence under section 9 if the offender were aged 18;
(d) an offence under any of sections 16, 25, 30, 34 and 38 (sexual activity) against a person under 16.
(3) This section does not affect any other enactment or any rule of law restricting the circumstances in which a person is guilty of aiding, abetting or counselling an offence under this Part.
For the purposes of this Part, a person consents if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice.
(1) If in proceedings for an offence to which this section applies it is proved—
(a) that the defendant did the relevant act,
(b) that any of the circumstances specified in subsection (2) existed, and
(c) that the defendant knew that those circumstances existed,
the complainant is to be taken not to have consented to the relevant act unless sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue as to whether he consented, and the defendant is to be taken not to have reasonably believed that the complainant consented unless sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue as to whether he reasonably believed it.
(2) The circumstances are that—
(a) any person was, at the time of the relevant act or immediately before it began, using violence against the complainant or causing the complainant to fear that immediate violence would be used against him;
(b) any person was, at the time of the relevant act or immediately before it began, causing the complainant to fear that violence was being used, or that immediate violence would be used, against another person;
(c) the complainant was, and the defendant was not, unlawfully detained at the time of the relevant act;
(d) the complainant was asleep or otherwise unconscious at the time of the relevant act;
(e) because of the complainant’s physical disability, the complainant would not have been able at the time of the relevant act to communicate to the defendant whether the complainant consented;
(f) any person had administered to or caused to be taken by the complainant, without the complainant’s consent, a substance which, having regard to when it was administered or taken, was capable of causing or enabling the complainant to be stupefied or overpowered at the time of the relevant act.
(3) In subsection (2)(a) and (b), the reference to the time immediately before the relevant act began is, in the case of an act which is one of a continuous series of sexual activities, a reference to the time immediately before the first sexual activity began.
(1) If in proceedings for an offence to which this section applies it is proved that the defendant did the relevant act and that any of the circumstances specified in subsection (2) existed, it is to be conclusively presumed—
(a) that the complainant did not consent to the relevant act, and
(b) that the defendant did not believe that the complainant consented to the relevant act.
(2) The circumstances are that—
(a) the defendant intentionally deceived the complainant as to the nature or purpose of the relevant act;
(b) the defendant intentionally induced the complainant to consent to the relevant act by impersonating a person known personally to the complainant.
In relation to an offence to which sections 75 and 76 apply, references in those sections to the relevant act and to the complainant are to be read as follows—
| Offence | Relevant Act |
|---|---|
| An offence under section 1 (rape). | The defendant intentionally penetrating, with his penis, the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (“the complainant”). |
| An offence under section 2 (assault by penetration). | The defendant intentionally penetrating, with a part of his body or anything else, the vagina or anus of another person (“the complainant”), where the penetration is sexual. |
| An offence under section 3 (sexual assault). | The defendant intentionally touching another person (“the complainant”), where the touching is sexual. |
| An offence under section 4 (causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent). | The defendant intentionally causing another person (“the complainant”) to engage in an activity, where the activity is sexual. |
For the purposes of this Part (except section 71), penetration, touching or any other activity is sexual if a reasonable person would consider that—
(a) whatever its circumstances or any person’s purpose in relation to it, it is because of its nature sexual, or
(b) because of its nature it may be sexual and because of its circumstances or the purpose of any person in relation to it (or both) it is sexual.
(1) The following apply for the purposes of this Part.
(2) Penetration is a continuing act from entry to withdrawal.
(3) References to a part of the body include references to a part surgically constructed (in particular, through gender reassignment surgery).
(4) “Image” means a moving or still image and includes an image produced by any means and, where the context permits, a three-dimensional image.
(5) References to an image of a person include references to an image of an imaginary person.
(6) “Mental disorder” has the meaning given by section 1 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (c. 20).
(7) References to observation (however expressed) are to observation whether direct or by looking at an image.
(8) Touching includes touching—
(a) with any part of the body,
(b) with anything else,
(c) through anything,
and in particular includes touching amounting to penetration.
(9) “Vagina” includes vulva.
(10) In relation to an animal, references to the vagina or anus include references to any similar part.
Sexual Offences Act 2003