Chaired by ELI Executive Committee member Sylvaine Poillot Peruzzetto, the panel focused on ELI’s project Consent, Knowledge, and Proof in the Law of Sexual Offences, which is developing practical guidance for investigators and prosecutors. The project examines objective indicators, contextual circumstances, reasonable belief and evidence before, during and after an alleged offence, while seeking to balance the protection of complainants with the procedural safeguards of criminal law.

ELI Reporter Dame Bobbie Cheema-Grubb introduced key features and innovations of the draft Guiding Principles. Henri de Larosière de Champfeu, Senior Counsellor of the Criminal Chamber of the French Court of Cassation, addressed the evolution of the concept of consent in French case law and reflected on the draft Principles.

Valentina Pavličić, President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, offered a judicial perspective from Montenegro, while criminal defence lawyer Stéphane Babonneau brought the practitioner’s perspective and considered the potential contribution of the Principles in practice.

By bringing together judicial and practitioner perspectives from different jurisdictions, the session explored how greater clarity and coherence might be achieved in this sensitive field while protecting both victims’ rights and fundamental criminal-law guarantees.