R v Brown
Encyclopedia
R v Brown [1994] 1 AC 212 is a House of Lords
judgment in which a group of men were convicted for their involvement in consensual sadomasochistic sexual acts over a 10 year period. They were convicted of "unlawful and malicious wounding" and "assault occasioning actual bodily harm" contrary to sections 20 and 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
. The key issue facing the Court was whether consent was a valid defence to assault in these circumstances, to which the Court answered in the negative.
The case is colloquially known as the Spanner case after Operation Spanner
, the investigation which led to it.
, as they had in all instances consented to the acts they engaged in.
was asked to consider was:
The Lords — by a bare majority, Lords Mustill
and Slynn
dissenting — answered this in the negative, holding that consent could not be a defence to offences under sections 20 and 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861.
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
judgment in which a group of men were convicted for their involvement in consensual sadomasochistic sexual acts over a 10 year period. They were convicted of "unlawful and malicious wounding" and "assault occasioning actual bodily harm" contrary to sections 20 and 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
. The key issue facing the Court was whether consent was a valid defence to assault in these circumstances, to which the Court answered in the negative.
The case is colloquially known as the Spanner case after Operation Spanner
Operation Spanner
Operation Spanner was the name of an operation carried out by police in the United Kingdom city of Manchester in 1987, as a result of which a group of homosexuals were convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for their involvement in consensual sadomasochism over a ten year period.The...
, the investigation which led to it.
Facts
A group of individuals — five of them appellants of the case — had engaged in sadomasochistic sexual acts, consenting in each case to the harm they received. While none of these individuals complained against any of the acts in which they were involved, they were uncovered by an unrelated police investigation. Upon conviction, the individuals argued that they could not be convicted under the Offences against the Person Act 1861Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
, as they had in all instances consented to the acts they engaged in.
Judgment
The certified question of appeal which the House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
was asked to consider was:
"Where A wounds or assaults B occasioning him actual bodily harm in the course of a sado-masochistic encounter, does the prosecution have to prove lack of consent on the part of B before they can establish A's guilt under section 20 or section 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861?"
The Lords — by a bare majority, Lords Mustill
Michael Mustill, Baron Mustill
Michael John Mustill, Baron Mustill PC is a British judge and barrister.The son of Clement William and Marion Mustill was educated in Oundle School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Doctor of Laws in 1992...
and Slynn
Gordon Slynn, Baron Slynn of Hadley
Gordon Slynn, Baron Slynn of Hadley, GBE, PC, QC was a British jurist specialising in European and International Law, and a former judge of the European Court of Justice and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.-Early life:...
dissenting — answered this in the negative, holding that consent could not be a defence to offences under sections 20 and 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861.