Tighter laws to end the ancient privilege that allows married couples to avoid being charged with conspiring to commit a crime are being called for by a law reform watchdog today.

The reform, proposed by the Law Commission, the group which advises the Government on changes to the law, has been prompted by the civil partnerships law that gives legal recognition to gay relationships.

Professor Jeremy Horder, the Commissioner leading the project, said: “It is currently impossible for a husband and wife, or for civil partners, to be guilty of conspiracy, however serious the crime.

“The reason is that they are treated as one person under the law. That cannot be right. This ancient privilege for spouses should be abolished.”

He added that the issue had been referred to the Law Commission by the former Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, QC, in the context of the civil partnerships bill.

The present law on conspiracy was also “littered” with other problems, he added, which the Commission’s proposals are aimed at removing.

One defect is that two or more conspirators can escape criminal charges by saying they were unsure that their plans would lead to a crime being committed - even one as serious as rape.

Two conspirators plotting rape could argue that they did not know for certain that a woman would not consent.

Professor Horder said: “So you don’t get any conspiracies to rape being charged.”

The Commission is also urging a tightening of the law on criminal attempt.

The law was so uncertain that people could escape conviction even where common sense dictated that they must be guilty, Professor Horder said.

“In a recent case where a man entered a boys’ school armed with a rope, tape and a knife, his conviction for attempted kidnapping was quashed as it was held that his conduct was not “more than merely preparatory” towards the commission of that offence.”

The law’s definition of “merely preparatory” had become too generous to the accused, he added.

“In these cases, people are engaging in an act which is not merely preparatory - it is clearly an attempt to commit an offence.”

The Commission is proposing a new offence of criminal preparation along American lines, he said.

Comments are invited on the proposals by January 21 2008.

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