Court to rule on issue of consent

A seven-judge Supreme Court will rule later on an important appeal concerning what positive obligations apply to men charged with rape who plead they believed there was consent to sex.

The DPP also wants the court to consider whether, in particular cases of alleged rape, an accused is obliged, before any sex, to ascertain there was actual capacity to consent.

Tom O’Malley BL, for the DPP, said consent is “the minimum required of any respectful interaction between human beings”.