The Adversarial Process And The Vulnerable Witness

Until quite recently it was commonplace to describe the witness as the 'forgotten man' in the criminal justice system. The last few years have seen a dramatic shift in thinking with an increasing recognition of the legitimate expectations and rights of witnesses within the criminal process.At the same time research has drawn attention to a host of factors that conspire to deny the courts access to the best evidence potentially available when so-called vulnerable and intimidated witnesses are called upon to testify in accordance with conventional adversarial trial procedures andmethods.The official response so far embodies an approach best described as one of accommodation. Efforts have centred on improving the treatment of witnesses within the established trial framework while preserving an overall commitment to key tenets of adversarial theory. The latter include the principleof orality with its general insistence upon direct evidence and the use of cross-examination as a device for testing the credibility of witnesses.The central contribution of this book lies in its demonstration of the significant limitations of the prevailing approach, most recently manifest in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. By providing a broader theoretical framework for understanding the treatment of vulnerable witnessesit signals the need to extend the search for solutions beyond the boundaries of the paradigmatic adversarial model. Drawing upon modern psychological, socio-linguistic, and victimological study across common law jurisdictions, the book provides a systematic critique of the special measures of the1999 Act and of adversarial trial procedure more generally.As a point of contrast the book also explores the contended advantages inherent within inquisitorial style criminal proceedings for witnesses, drawing on the author's own experience of rape proceedings in the Netherlands. Throughout due account is taken of significant recent developments atnational, European, and international levels which have ensured the place victims and witnesses, once excluded, in any discussion of criminal trial fairness.

This book aims to provide a self-contained but critical account of the manner in which cases are tried in England and Wales.

Evidence and the Adversarial Process d, an important new text, reflects the latest views and research on evidence and the adversarial process, and identifies new directions and procedures which are bringing the English trial closer to the continental model. The book both reviews the modern law and challenges traditional assumptions; the theory of the trial is measured against the reality.

This book examines the justice gap and trial process for sexual assault against both adults and children in two jurisdictions: England and Wales and New South Wales, Australia. Drawing on decades of research, it investigates the reality of the policing and prosecution of sexual assault offences – often seen as one of the ‘hardest crimes to prosecute’ – across two similar jurisdictions. Despite the introduction of the many reform options detailed in the book, satisfactory outcomes for victims and the public are still difficult to obtain. Cossins takes a new approach by examining the nature and effects of adversarialism on vulnerable witnesses, jury decision-making and the structures of power within the trial process, to show how, and at what points, that process is weighted against complainants of sexual assault, in order to make evidence-based suggestions for reform. She argues that this justice gap is a result of a moralistic adversarial culture which fosters myths and misconceptions about rape and child sexual assault, thus requiring the prosecution to prove a complainant’s moral worthiness. She argues this culture can only be eliminated by a radical replacement of the adversarial system with a trauma-informed system. By reviewing the relevant psychological literature, this book documents the triggers for re-traumatisation within an adversarial trial, and discusses the reform measures that would be necessary to transform the sexual assault trial from one where the complainant’s moral worthiness is ‘on trial’ to a fully functioning trauma-informed system. It speaks to students and academics across subjects including law, criminology, gender studies and psychology, and practitioners in law and victim services, as well as policy-makers.

Over the past few years, public attention focused on the Jian Ghomeshi trial, the failings of Judge Greg Lenehan in the Halifax taxi driver case, and the judicial disciplinary proceedings against former Justice Robin Camp have placed the sexual assault trial process under significant scrutiny. Less than one percent of the sexual assaults that occur each year in Canada result in legal sanction for those who commit these offences. Survivors often distrust and fear the criminal justice process, and as a result, over ninety percent of sexual assaults go unreported. Unfortunately, their fears are well founded. In this thorough evaluation of the legal culture and courtroom practices prevalent in sexual assault prosecutions, Elaine Craig provides an even-handed account of the ways in which the legal profession unnecessarily – and sometimes unlawfully – contributes to the trauma and re-victimization experienced by those who testify as sexual assault complainants. Gathering conclusive evidence from interviews with experienced lawyers across Canada, reported case law, lawyer memoirs, recent trial transcripts, and defence lawyers’ public statements and commercial advertisements, Putting Trials on Trial demonstrates that – despite prominent contestations – complainants are regularly subjected to abusive, humiliating, and discriminatory treatment when they turn to the law to respond to sexual violations. In pursuit of trial practices that are less harmful to sexual assault complainants as well as survivors of sexual violence more broadly, Putting Trials on Trial makes serious, substantiated, and necessary claims about the ethical and cultural failures of the Canadian legal profession.

Evidence: Law and Context explains the key concepts of evidence law in England and Wales clearly and concisely, set against the backdrop of the broader political and theoretical contexts. The book focuses on the essential topics commonly found on Evidence courses, covering both criminal evidence and civil evidence. Taking a contextual approach, the authors show how wider policy debates and societal trends have impacted upon the recent evolution of the law, helping to explain how and why the law has developed. The sixth edition has been revised to include: the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), and updates on previous statistics on the increase in the use of ‘show pleas,’ false confessions, and miscarriages of justice, alongside a comparative perspective on how the American criminal practice has evolved along a parallel line. Learning points summarise the major principles and rules covered and practical examples are used throughout the text to give better understanding as to how the technical rules are applied in practice. Self-test questions are included in the book, helping students to test their understanding and prepare for assessment. Well written, clear, and with a logical structure throughout, it contains all the information necessary for any undergraduate evidence law module.

This book is questions whether the discovery of truth is the central aim of the rules and practices of criminal investigation and trial.