Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 14 March 2022 to Question 134064 on Rape: Victims, if he will publish guidance on the application of the right to anonymity to victims of rape in cases in which (a) the rape occurred abroad and (b) the perpetrator was (i) a non-UK citizen, (ii) a British Overseas Territories citizen, (iii) a British National (Overseas) and (iv) a British Overseas citizen.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, which makes provision for automatic reporting restrictions to protect the identity of complainants in cases of rape and other serious sexual offences, extends to the United Kingdom and does not apply to criminal proceedings overseas. Where, however, an offence of rape is alleged to have been committed abroad by a UK national (including a person holding one of the categories of citizenship listed in the Question) or by someone resident in the UK, there is the possibility of asserting extra-territorial jurisdiction and trying the case in a UK court. In cases where that is done, the reporting restrictions in the 1992 Act would apply in the usual way.