[4] Therefore, non-consensual sexual penetration of the vagina or anus with either another part of the body (such as the fingers), or an object, must be prosecuted under this section.

Initially the legislation did not include uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews but after some debate these were written into the provision.

These presumptions require the relevant act to have taken place at the same time as one of six circumstances existed, about which the defendant was aware.

Section 72 provides differing levels of dual criminality for specified offences according to the UK citizenship status of an offender.

For UK residents, acts outside the United Kingdom have to constitute an offence in the country where they are committed, in order to be prosecuted in Britain.

Bethany Simpson has suggested the terms "freedom"[14] and "choice"[14] used to define consent are too complex for the courts to apply.

[15] One of the more controversial parts of the Act involves the criminalising of various common behaviours, such as laws which, on the face of it, outlaw consensual "sexual hugging" in public places or by underage persons, even when both participants are under age, followed by the issue of guidance notes which countermand this, saying they should almost never be prosecuted.

[16][17] The Home Office stated that legalising consensual sexual activity between children "would damage a fundamental plank in our raft of child protection measures".

We accept that genuinely mutually agreed, non-exploitative sexual activity between teenagers does take place and in many instances no harm comes from it.

"[16] Professor Nicola Lacey of the London School of Economics commented: "What the Home Office would say was that they wanted to use the criminal law for symbolic impact, to say that it's not a good thing for kids to be having sex.

Section 141 of the Act gave the Home Secretary the power to make rules by statutory instrument to deal with the transition from the old to the new laws, to cover the situation where a defendant is charged with offences which overlap the commencement date of 1 May 2004.

Dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Rose said: "If a history of criminal legislation ever comes to be written it is unlikely that 2003 will be identified as a year of exemplary skill in the annals of Parliamentary drafting.

"[18] This situation was not resolved until Parliament passed Section 55[19] of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, which came into force in February 2007.

It also repealed much of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 which had discriminated heavily against homosexual and bisexual men, leaving it largely gutted of statutory effect.