A Research Response to Reform-Resistant Questioning Process in Adult Rape Cases
Elisabeth McDonald "Rape Myths as Barriers to Fair Trial Process" Canterbury University Press, 2020
15 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2020 Last revised: 4 May 2020
Date Written: November 1, 2019
Abstract
Despite decades of targeted law reform, adult complainants still report that the process of being a witness is a significant point of re-victimization. The Open Access book (Rape Myths as Barriers to Fair Trial Process), of which this paper is the introductory chapter, contains the findings of four years of research that compares the trial process in 30 adult rape cases from 2010 to 2015 (in which the defense at trial was consent) with 10 cases from the New Zealand Sexual Violence Court Pilot heard in 2018. The aim of the research was to find out at which points in the questioning process the complainant displayed heightened emotionality, including distress, and why cross-examination (in particular) is so resistant to reform measures. Researchers also considered the extent to which the current rules of evidence and procedure are applied appropriately and consistently, and identified examples of best practice in order to develop proposals for changes to law and process.
Keywords: Trial Process, Rape Myth, Rules of Evidence, Consent, Credibility, Judicial Directions
JEL Classification: K14, K41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation