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Following is an information paper which sets out the background to the Administration's proposal to abolish the corroboration rules for sexual offences: WHAT IS CORROBORATION Corroboration is evidence which confirms the accuracy of other evidence in a material particular.parliament.uk In criminal cases, it must confirm or tend to confirm the guilt of the accused.sagepub.com Two issues arise in respect of corroboration. The first issue is what types of cases require corroboration. The second issue is what kinds of evidence constitute corroboration. BACKGROUND As a general rule, evidence given against a defendant does not need to be corroborated. A defendant can generally be convicted on the uncorroborated evidence of a single credible witness, provided that the judge or jury is satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, of the defendant's guilt.
However, in certain cases, corroboration rules have been established. 133 procuring a woman who is a defective to have unlawful sexual intercourse. In some other cases, a corroboration warning must be given: the judge must remind himself or warn the jury of the danger of convicting on uncorroborated evidence. Cases in this category include rape and indecent assault. Provided that a warning is given, a defendant can be convicted even if there is no corroboration. HISTORICAL REASONS FOR THE CORROBORATION RULES Traditionally, the evidence of victims of sexual offences has been regarded as peculiarly susceptible to fantasy or fabrication, perhaps motivated by frustration, spite or remorse. The corroboration rules were intended to reduce the danger arising from the fact that complaints of sexual offences are easy to make but difficult to refute.
There is said to be an additional danger that sympathy for the complainant as a witness may prevent the jury or judge from evaluating the evidence dispassionately. CRITICISM OF THE CORROBORATION RULES The corroboration rules have been criticized on several grounds which are stated below. Discrimination against victims of sexual offences It has been argued that the corroboration rules work particularly to the disadvantage of victims of sexual offences. Although the rules do not differentiate between the gender of the victims, nevertheless the majority of victims of sexual offences are female. The nature of the defence case may also affect the way in which the corroboration principles apply.
For example, if the defendant to a rape charge denies having had intercourse with the complainant, medical evidence of traces of the defendant's semen may corroborate the allegation. If the defendant admits that intercourse took place but alleges that it was consensual, evidence of his semen traces would not corroborate the allegation of lack of consent, but serious bruising, or torn or blood-stained clothing may do so. The position becomes particularly complicated where there are two or more defendants who adopt different defences. For example, in a trial of two defendants charged with rape, the first may admit that intercourse took place but allege that it was with consent, and the second may deny that intercourse took place.
In such a case, the complainant's distressed condition may corroborate the allegation that the intercourse with the first defendant was without consent, but it does not corroborate the allegation that the second defendant had intercourse with the alleged victim. Anomalies Anomalies arise because the corroboration rules are an exception to the general principle that it is the quality, rather than the quantity, of evidence which should count in a criminal trial. As a general rule, a jury is not prevented from convicting on the unsupported testimony of a single credible prosecution witness, even if it is contradicted by several witnesses for the defence. On the other hand, the jury need not believe a witness's testimony, even if it is not contradicted by other evidence and is unshaken in cross-examination.
2 HKC 174. The complainant in the case was around 9 to 10 at the time when she was allegedly sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend who was staying with them at the relevant time. The defendant was charged with and convicted of, amongst other things, rape. The prosecution adduced evidence from a Mr. Yau, who shared a holding cell with the defendant and who was told by the defendant that he had sexual intercourse with the complainant. The defendant, when convicted, appealed against the conviction on the ground that the judge was wrong to treat the evidence of Mr. Yau as corroboration of the complainant's evidence. The requirement to give a corroboration warning in respect of an alleged accomplice or a complainant of a sexual offence, simply because a witness falls into one of those categories has been abrogated.
It is a matter for the judge's discretion what, if any, warning is appropriate in respect of such a witness, as indeed in respect of any other witness in whatever type of case. It might be appropriate for the judge in some cases to warn the jury to exercise caution before acting on the unsupported evidence of a witness. There would need to be an evidential basis for suggesting that the evidence of the witness might be unreliable and not because the witness falls into any particular category. Where a warning is considered necessary, it should be as part of the review of the evidence and his comments as to how the jury should evaluate it, rather than as a mechanical legal requirement. It is for the judge to decide the strength and terms of any warning that the circumstances of the case may require.
Canada The corroboration rules were abolished in 1987 in relation to some specific offences including a range of sexual offences. The abolition has gone even further and provided that the judge should not instruct the jury that it may be unsafe to convict in the absence of corroboration. This approach has been criticized as inflexible because categories are again relied on and the judge's discretion is also fettered, albeit in a different direction. Australia In the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, the trial judge is prohibited in most cases from giving a traditional corroboration warning. However, in these jurisdictions the judge may still give a warning upon the basis of the particular facts and circumstances which may affect the reliability of the witness in question. In New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, a corroboration warning regarding the evidence of an alleged victim of a sexual offence is not required by any rule of law or practice.
Students walk through the UCLA campus in Westwood. Students walk through the UCLA campus in Westwood. A fifth woman has accused a retired University of California, Los Angeles gynecologist of sexually abusing her. The lawsuit, filed Friday, accuses Dr.nih.gov James Heaps of sexual battery, negligence and civil rights violations. "We’re reviewing the lawsuit and we find the allegations against Dr. Heaps to be very disturbing," UCLA Health spokeswoman Rhonda Curry said. The university had said it was aware of four women, including a one-time UCLA student, who alleged that Heaps sexually abused them. Heaps, 62, has been criminally charged with two counts of sexual battery by fraud involving two of those women. He pleaded not guilty on Monday. The lawsuit involves a fifth woman who was an 18-year-old student in 2017 when she became one of Heaps’ patients.
The doctor had an office on the UCLA campus and worked as an employee for UCLA Health. During a routine ultrasound and pelvic exam, Heaps sexually touched her genitals, made "grossly inappropriate and humiliating comments" and asked "embarrassing, non-medical questions about her personal life and sex life," the suit contends. The woman is "haunted by memories and flashbacks of an assault and harassment by Dr. Heaps," the lawsuit adds.youtube.com McGrath represents the two women in the criminal case and filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of one of the women earlier this week. "Dr. Heaps treated patients professionally," she said.
I guess it can depend on how abuse is defined and how questions are worded, but both those numbers seem really high. The biggest danger is not that perpetrators go unpunished by the secular criminal system and thus escape worldly justice-it’s that they may be left without effective treatment and freely able to commit more deviant acts. If the road ends with church discipline and counseling within the church only, it may be well-intentioned but often not adequate to prevent more incidents from happening.nytimes.com These people have a sickness that typically needs more than the church and community can provide, though church and community still play a key role. ‘Like a similar story unfolding in an Amish community in northeastern Missouri, the elders had hoped to reform the sex offender on their own.
On the other hand here is a case where the people in a Michigan community were influenced by what happened in Missouri and reported the crimes. ‘Cole had a meeting with the Amish community in his county nine months ago to make clear to them the law of mandatory reporting.foxnews.com And, even by buggy, it seems the news traveled fast, all the way to Michigan. "They had never reported it up there either," said Cole. He said two young Amish girls who spent time here in the past, and now are in Michigan, told the elders of being abused; the elders then told Michigan police. That police department now credits Webster County with making a difference.
Public policy responses to child sexual abuse are dominated by interventions designed to take effect only after offenders have already begun offending, and after children have already been sexually abused. Comparatively little attention has been given to alternative prevention strategies - particularly to those aimed at preventing sexual abuse before it might otherwise occur. This book aims to fulfill this objective through integrating clinical and criminological concepts and knowledge to inform a more comprehensive and effective public policy approach to preventing child sexual abuse. Empirical and theoretical knowledge concerning child sexual abuse is integrated with broader developments in evidence-based crime and child maltreatment prevention, leading to new ideas about understanding and preventing child sexual abuse. This book will be essential reading for anybody with interests in this field.
As part of the new prevention series I had a conversation with Donald Findlater, Director of Stop it Now UK. Stop it Now UK provides a helpline for people who are concerned about their sexual thoughts and behaviour as well as for other family members and for professionals wanting to know more about sexual abuse prevention. It also provides a range of prevention and treatment services. Before taking on the leadership of Stop it Now UK Donald, who originally trained and worked as a Probation Officer and manager and then Director of the Wolvercote Clinic, , another initiative ahead of its time in many ways.
The clinic provided residential treatment for men who had sexually offended and was the only one of its kind in the UK. The clinic was forced to close due to funding difficulties and to this day the UK still does not have a specialist residential treatment centre for sexual offenders outside the Criminal Justice System. Funding challenges have also been an issue at Stop it NowUK. When considering the future, Donald speaks eloquently about the need for more outcome data in the UK to measure the effectiveness of prevention interventions. In fact, in June 2014 an independent evaluation of the Stop it Now! Helpline, conducted by specialist researchers from NatCen Social Research, was published.