The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and rules of evidence in light of Daly: reflections on the case of KB v HM Advocate

This note considers KB v HM Advocate, which concerned the admissibility of character evidence to prove a sexual offence contained within a course of conduct charged under section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (DASA). KB raises a number of significant issues: the first is the application of sections 274 and 275 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 in the context of section 1 of DASA – a matter which has been given little consideration until now. The second is the interpretation by the High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court of the UK Supreme Court judgment in Daly, which held that the approach adopted by Scots law to the admission of sexual history evidence was liable to result in violations of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.