Case Law

Question 1

R v Collister

Answer 1

Circumstantial evidence from which an offender’s intent may be inferred can include:

• the offender’s actions and words before, during and after the event
• the surrounding circumstances
• the nature of the act itself.

Question 2

R v Cook

Answer 2

“Real, genuine or true consent, may be conveyed by words or conduct or both”.

Question 3

R v Court

Answer 3

Indecency means “conduct that right-thinking people will consider an affront to the sexual modesty of [the complainant]”.

Question 4

R v Cox

Answer 4

Consent must be “full, voluntary, free and informed … freely and voluntarily given by a person in a position to form a rational judgment”.

Question 5

Cox v R

Answer 5

“Although we do not exclude the possibility that a child of ten or eleven may be able to give a full, voluntary, free and informed consent to sexual intercourse, the circumstances that would justify that conclusion would be exceptional if not rare.

Question 6

Cox v R (2)

Answer 6

“Save in exceptional and rare circumstances … even where she indicates an agreement to the act occurring … no reasonable adult would have grounds for believing that a ten or eleven year old girl has the experience or maturity to understand the nature and significance of the act.”

Question 7

R v Forrest and Forrest

Answer 7

“The best evidence possible in the circumstances should be adduced by the prosecution in proof of [the victim’s] age.”

Question 8

R v Gutuama

Answer 8

Under the objective test the Crown must prove that “no reasonable person in the accused’s shoes could have thought that [the complainant] was consenting”.

Question 9

R v Harpur

Answer 9

An attempt includes “an act or omission constituting a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his commission of the crime”.

Question 10

R v Harpur (2)

Answer 10

“[The Court may] have regard to the conduct viewed cumulatively up to the point when the conduct in question stops …the defendant’s conduct [may] be considered in its entirety. Considering how much remains to be done … is always relevant, though not determinative.”

Question 11

R v Koroheke

Answer 11

The genitalia comprise of the reproduction organs, interior and exterior … they include the vulva [and] the labia, both interior and exterior, at the opening of the vagina.

Question 12

R v Koroheke (2)

Answer 12

It is important to distinguish between consent that is freely given and submission by a woman to what she may regard as unwanted but unavoidable. For example, submission by a woman because she is frightened of what might happen if she does not give in or co-operate, is not true consent.

Question 13

R v Leeson

Answer 13

“The definition of ’indecent assault’ … is an assault accompanied with circumstances of indecency …”