NB (Consent to sex) [2019] EWCOP 17

Judgment was reserved in a case where the question was whether the P ​has the capacity to consent to sexual relations.

The P suffers from what is referred to as 'general global learning difficulty' and 'an impairment' in relation to her facility to communicate with others. She has been, at least historically, assisted by the use of Makaton sign language and her sentences are limited. She married her husband abroad and they have a 20 year old daughter together. The question before the court was whether the P had capacity to consent to sexual relations or not.

The court reserved Judgment in order to take the time to look carefully and in some detail at the case law and its applicability to the facts of this case.

Read the full text of the judgment on Bailii