Section 80 Competence and compellability of accused’s spouse or civil partner.F9F10E1C1

In any proceedings the wife or husband of the accused shall be competent to give evidence—

In any proceedings the F3spouse or civil partner of a person charged in the proceedings shall, subject to subsection (4) below, be compellable to give evidence on behalf of that person.

In any proceedings the spouse or civil partner of a person charged in the proceedings shall, subject to subsection (4) below, be compellable—

In relation to the spouse or civil partner of a person charged in any proceedings, an offence is a specified offence for the purposes of subsection (2A) above if—

No person who is charged in any proceedings shall be compellable by virtue of subsection (2) or (2A) above to give evidence in the proceedings.

References in this section to a person charged in any proceedings do not include a person who is not, or is no longer, liable to be convicted of any offence in the proceedings (whether as a result of pleading guilty or for any other reason).

In any proceedings a person who has been but is no longer married to the accused shall be F4competent and compellable to give evidence as if that person and the accused had never been married.

In any proceedings a person who has been but is no longer the civil partner of the accused shall be compellable to give evidence as if that person and the accused had never been civil partners.

Where in any proceedings the age of any person at any time is material for the purposes of subsection (3) above, his age at the material time shall for the purposes of that provision be deemed to be or to have been that which appears to the court to be or to have been his age at that time.

In subsection (3)(b) above “sexual offence” means an offence under F6the Sexual Offences Act 1956, the M1Indecency with Children Act M21960, the Sexual Offences Act 1967, section 54 of the M3Criminal Law Act M41977 or the M5Protection of Children Act 1978 F7or Part 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 F8, or an offence under section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (human trafficking) committed with a view to exploitation that consists of or includes behaviour within section 3(3) of that Act (sexual exploitation). .

The failure of the wife or husband of the accused to give evidence shall not be made the subject of any comment by the prosecution.

Section 1(d) of the Criminal Evidence Act 1898 (communications between husband and wife) and section 43(1) of the M6Matrimonial Causes Act M71965 (evidence as to marital intercourse) shall cease to have effect.