Consent
In A-G’s Reference (No 6 of 1980), where two men decided to settle an argument by a fight, the Court of Appeal held that it was not in the public interest that people should try to cause or should cause each other actual bodily harm for no good reason. It is immaterial whether the act occurs in private or in public; it is an assault if actual bodily harm is intended and/or caused. This was endorsed by the House of Lords in R v Brown (the case of the sado-masochistic homosexuals).
Nothing said in the A-G’s Reference was intended to cast doubt on the accepted legality of: properly conducted games and sports, lawful chastisement or correction, reasonable surgical interference, and dangerous exhibitions etc. In R v Brown, Lord Templeman said a person is entitled to be acquitted if the injury was a foreseeable incident of a lawful activity such as: surgery, ritual circumcision, tattooing, ear-piercing and violent sports including boxing.
Other case examples of exceptions to the general include:
- Activity between husband and wife, as in R v Wilson (but see the limits in R v Emmett);
- Sport, as in R v Barnes; and
- Horseplay as in R v Jones and R v Aitken.
It has been held that consent must be “real” or genuine in order for it to be valid. See: Tabassum.
Where a person has a sexually transmittable disease, a sexual partner’s consent must be an informed consent in order for it to be valid: Konzani.