Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 made a number of changes to the law, including amending the right of silence for defendants, banning simulated child pornography, removing the obligation on local authorities to provide sites for gypsies, and allowing th police to ban "raves". It was introduced by Michael Howard, the Conservative Home Secretary.

In particular, it reduced the age of consent for sex between men to 18, and legalised anal sex between men and women, also with an age of consent of 18. It also extended the definition of rape to include anal rape.

During the passage of the bill an amendment was proposed to reduce the age of consent to 16 rather than 18, but this was defeated thanks to Labour votes.