A change in section 42(1)(b) to reflect this change in the substantive law would now seem to be necessary; however, it is not clear how much difference such a change would make. The difficulty with section 1(2) is that it could empty the reasonableness test of most of its content (Temkin and Ashworth, 2004). Much will now depend on how the phrase “all the circumstances” is interpreted. It might be thought to be an invitation to the jury to scrutinise C’s behaviour to determine whether there was anything about it which could have induced a reasonable belief in consent. Is C’s sexual history to be taken to be a relevant part of the circumstances? In answer to a question raised in Committee, the Minister agreed that the section “should focus the …show more content…
Under section 42(1)(a), “relevant issue in the case” means any issue falling to be proved by the prosecution or defence in the trial of the accused”. This phrase is potentially capable of a broad construction. Thus, if C’s motivation became an issue in the case, it would, arguably, be possible to question her about previous sexual behaviour if this were relevant to it. It remains to be seen whether the courts will accept such an argument. Lord Hope in R v A considered that section 41(3)(a) was a gateway to admitting evidence of motive to lie38 but this was not the view taken in R v Mokrecovas.39 In R v Floyd Charles Darnell40, defence counsel, relying on Lord Hope’s remarks, suggested that a very wide interpretation should be given to section 42(1)(a). The Court of Appeal did not consider it necessary to explore the matter in this case but commented that if evidence could be admitted under section 42(1)(a) as indicative of a motive to lie, it was not clear how this could be reconciled with section 41(4), which forbids evidence the purpose or main purpose of which is to impugn C’s credibility. In R v Martin (Durwayne)41, the Court of Appeal found a way of circumventing this problem. D, who was charged with indecent assault, denied any contact with C on the occasion in question, claiming he
Analysis / Ruling of the Court. The district court granted the employer’s motion for summary judgement on the sexual harassment claim due to the fact that Sherry Lynch treated both men and women equally in this case; that is, she behaved in the same vulgar and inappropriate way towards both genders. For this reason, Smith’s gender was not a contributing factor to the harassment, which is one of the conditions that would have to be met for the sexual harassment claim. The appellate court agreed and affirmed the district court’s judgement. The district court ended up excluding evidence pertaining to the sexual harassment claim because the sexual harassment claim had been dismissed on summary judgement, and because the court decided that the details of the harassment bore little relevance to the retaliation case whereas this evidence would be unfairly prejudicial to Hy-Vee. The appellate court affirmed the district court’s judgement. Smith did not offer any specifics on what evidence she would have wanted to present, which made it hard for the court to determine whether this evidence was material to the retaliation case or not. In her opposition to the motion in limine, she said she only wanted to discuss the harassment case in general, including mentioning that Lynch had harassed/touched her inappropriately. Hy-Vee had no objection to this, and Smith got to present this much evidence in the trial. Therefore, the appellate court found that she waived any objection to the
The Crown gave notices pursuant to ss 97 and 98 of the Evidence Act (EA) 2008 (Vic), intending to lead the Evidence against the appellant at trial. The trial judge ruled that the coincidence evidence was admissible but the tendency evidence was inadmissible.
The setting in both Lord of the Flies and I Only Came to Use the Phone contributes to the dehumanization of the characters in each of the readings. The settings are both isolated, which is the cause of all the chaos that takes place because when you take a human being out of the comfort of society, they go back to their natural animalistic tendencies in order to survive. Survival of the fittest is present in these quotes. Also, the island archetype plays a huge role in both of the stories.
Therefore, if the case presented above is raised, the defence may be used by Jerome. The defence available can be found in subsection eight of the act: it is a defence for the defendant to show that they believed their actions were in the victim’s best interests, and the behaviour was in all the circumstances reasonable. The facts of the case state that Jerome has explained to Talia that his actions are for her and Alicia’s own good. Although this belief may be an honest and rationale belief it cannot be argued that in any way his behaviour was reasonable in the given circumstances. Under the act it will be assumed Jerome has shown the facts in subsection (8) if there is sufficient evidence that raises an issue with respect to the facts and the ‘contrary is not proved beyond reasonable doubt’ Therefore, the prosecution has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defence should not stand. However, as the statutory framework states, this defence is not just a matter of Jerome believing he was acting in Talia’s best interest. ‘There is an objective element…that allows a...jury to reject the defence where they find that the behaviour of the defendant was not reasonable.’ Given this discretional element and the facts of the case the defence would be a weak one and should not affect the prosecution’s
Successes and Failures of Sexual Offences Act 2003 The Sexual Offences Act 2003 was heralded as a response to shifting social attitudes, encompassing the broad libertarian approach towards sexual behaviour that has become increasingly dominant since the Act that preceded it whilst attempting to account for the myriad of more widespread sexual deviancies and abusive practices that were otherwise poorly regulated by existing statute. It was designed as a regularisation of the law on sexual offences giving a modern and consistent perspective upon the particular offences; one that would allow the courts to proceed on a fairer and less discriminatory basis, both in its prosecution of offenders and it in treatment of victims. Few statutes can have been subjected to the same level of public scrutiny as this Act, emerging from a climate of public concern over the adequate protection of their children and the proliferation of paedophilia. The abnormally low conviction rate for rape as well as socio-criminal phenomena like 'date-rape' or the effect of immigration on acceptable sexual practices were yet more facets of a many-handed debate about how the law should respond to a changing world. Understanding these issues is central to finding the coherent thread upon which different changes in the Act attempt to hang.
The complainant of a sexual offence could previously be cross-examined about being a prostitute or about indiscriminate promiscuity in order to show that she was not to be trusted. There was a tendency to explore the victim’s past sexual experience to...
“Sex offending is a somewhat unique crime, as it directly deals with one of society’s most taboo topics-sex and sexuality” ( Zilney & Zilney, 2009, p. iii).
(2) Whether a person is reasonable is to be resolved having respect to every one of the conditions, including any means A has taken to find out whether B assents (Sexual Offenses Act, 2003, p. 1).
Barristers' Perspectives on Rape and the Sexual Offences Act 2003 - (2010) 174 JPN 47
In the case of R v Oakes, the main topic dealt with the reverse burden of proof that was brought upon the accused, David Edwin Oakes. The issue that was
The 1960s was a period well remembered for all the civil rights movements that occurred during that time frame and the impact these movements had on the social and political dynamics of the United States. The three largest movements that were striving in the 1960s were the African American civil rights movement, the New Left movement and the feminist movement. These three movements were in a lot of ways influenced by each other and were very similar in terms of their goals and strategies. However, within each of these movements there were divisions in the way they tried to approach the issues they were fighting against. Looking at each of these movements individually will reveal the relationship they all share as well as the changes that were brought forth as a result of each groups actions.
On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
Held: Evidence would have been admissible as part of the res gestae because not only was there a close association in place and time between the statement and the shooting, but also the way in which the statement came to be made, in a call for the police and the tone of voice used showed intrinsically that the statement was being forced from the wife by an overwhelming pressure of contemporary events. 9 Res Gestae, Topic 3, Law of Evidence. Prepared by Ikram Abdul Sattar, 10. R v. Andrews [1987] 1 All ER 513 where the appellant and another man knocked on the door of the victim’s flat and when the victim opened it, the appellant stabbed him in the chest and stomach with a knife and the two men then robbed the flat.
The importance of understanding the onset of sexual orientation based on empirical evidence is needed in anti-discrimination laws or policies that bring up “sexual orientation” as grounds for redress (Setho, 2012). Since pedophilia does deal with sex between an adult and a child who cannot give legal consent, many legal and social, implications can arise regarding age and sexual orientation (Setho, 2012). The answer to Setho’s study for public policy purposes can affect how society perceives pedophile and that may have implications for criminal civil law.
Kaplan, Margo. “Taking Pedophilia Seriously.” Washington & Lee Law Review, vol. 72, no. 1, 2015, pp. 75–170. Winter2015, EBSCOHost, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=db86a6e1-6532-405a-87b8-724a12314039@sessionmgr4010.