I take seriously the concerns that some stakeholders have with how the corroboration rule can affect access to justice for survivors of crimes that are committed in private.

I was interested to see the Court of Appeal’s judgment in October 2023, and I note that the Lord Advocate commented that the decision

“will improve access to justice for ... victims”

and

“has the potential to transform”

the way that the Crown Office prosecutes all offences, particularly sexual offences.

The Lord Advocate’s further references are currently being considered by the Court of Appeal, and it would not be appropriate for me to provide a view on issues that are live before our independent courts.

Those are recent and on-going developments, so it is not yet possible to model their potential impact.