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From: dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.legal
Subject: Re: Rape in  Ontario
Message-ID: <2873@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Dec-83 11:54:43 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.2873
Posted: Fri Dec  2 11:54:43 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Dec-83 12:55:33 EST
References: <343@watdaisy.UUCP>
Organization: The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 46

Sophie, if you have read that "false accusations of rape" consist
of 5% of such accusations, I would think that that's just what it means.
When the court acquits an accused, it is *not* deciding "that the
accusations were false". It (or the jury) is determining that the
accused cannot be proven guilty *beyond a reasonable doubt* and *upon
sufficient legal evidence*. An acquittal should carry no implication
that the complainant was lying.

>>>From: saquigley@watdaisy.UUCP (Sophie Quigley)
>>>Now, I would like to ask a legal question.  I also found out during this case,
>>>that the (alleged) victim of a raped has to testify against her (alleged)
>>>assailants, not as a victim, but as a witness.  Is this the same in cases of
>>>assault, or theft?  Is there a distinction between victims and witnesses in
>>>the criminal code of canada, or are all victims considered witnesses or are
>>>there just some victims considered witnesses?
>>>If victims and witnesses are different, then what are provisions for their
>>>security are they entitled to, depending on what they are classified as?

There is no such thing as a "victim" in terms of the Criminal Code.
A witness who is called to give evidence in court has the same legal
status whether he or she was a victim, a bystander or even another
accused.

As far as I know, security arrangements are informal arrangements with
the police force and perhaps the Crown Attorney (==public prosecutor).
There are provisions for compelling attendance of reluctant witnesses,
but as far as I know nothing in the Code about security for witnesses.

The federal Departmen of Justice has been considering amendments to
the Code which would permit "victims" to make a statement to the court
before sentencing. This would be the first legal recognition of the
existence of victims.

In rape cases, there is a limitation on asking questions as to the
sexual conduct of the "complainant", which is defined as "the person
against whom it is alleged that the offense was committed".

I don't practise criminal law, so I could be mistaken about any
of the above. (I'm also using an old copy of the Criminal Code.)


Dave Sherman
The Law Society of Upper Canada
Toronto
-- 
 {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!dave