RAPE Crisis Scotland welcomed a judge’s ruling that victims of abuse should receive legal aid to oppose applications to access their medical records or other sensitive information.

Senior judge Lord Glennie, who examined the case, ruled that the human rights of the woman at the centre of the case had been breached and she was entitled to legal aid which had previously been refused by Scottish government ministers.

Rape Crisis Scotland national co-ordinator Sandy Brindley called the ruling a “very significant step,” adding that her organisation had “serious concerns about the use of complainers’ medical records in sexual offence trials.”

Ms Brindley warned that attempts to access private records for public scrutiny deters those reporting abuse and contributes to their “trauma and sense of violation.”

The victim in the case was served legal papers notifying her that her alleged abuser wanted access to medical and psychiatric records and was informed that, unlike in England and Wales, there was no legal aid provided to fight the application.

The woman then made an application to Scottish ministers to use their discretionary power to grant legal aid, but they refused to do so, claiming that the interests of the alleged victim could be protected without the need for her to personally participate and be represented at the hearing.

Ms Brindley called on the Scottish government to “put in place clear rules governing access to medical or other sensitive records,” adding: “Legal aid should automatically be made available to complainers in these circumstances, on a non-means-tested basis.”

She said the Scottish government had taken “the wrong approach” in this case.