Campaigning law students praised at Holyrood

The pivotal role Glasgow Caledonian students played in a campaign to safeguard the anonymity of complainers in sexual offence cases has been recognised at Holyrood.

The lifelong right to anonymity for complainers is to be enshrined in Scots law following a campaign by the University’s Law students and lecturers.

Media convention dictates complainers are not named but there is no legal prohibition in Scotland - unlike in the rest of the UK.

The new Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill introduces a lifelong right to privacy and a clear framework for reporting on cases and commenting online.

Law lecturer Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, appearing in front of the Criminal Justice Committee with colleague Dr Andrew Tickell, said: "We were very fortunate that at Glasgow Caledonian University we were able to work with our students.

"It helped the students think about how they could contribute to public legal education on this issue. Our students have been a big part of this process and I want to publicly acknowledge that today.

"We are all publishers now. Every time you send out a tweet or put out a post, we are publishers, and the Bill captures that."