NCJ Number
114046
Date Published
1985
Length
110 pages
Annotation
This report examines the extent to which legal issues emerging in recent Canadian case law reflect the reform principles underlying Bill C-127, which significantly altered both substantive and evidentiary laws relating to sexual offenses.
Abstract
The legislative goals of Bill C-127 are to protect the integrity of the person from nonconsensual sexual contact, protect children from sexual contact, eliminate sexual discrimination from the criminal code, address the violent nature of sexual assaults, and protect complainants from harassment in the courtroom. Overall, the judicial interpretations of the bill's provisions have not fostered the legislative objectives specified by the Law Reform Commission. The courts' interpretation of the term 'sexual' in the bill's provisions is narrow and tends to counter the bill's intent of shifting the law's emphasis to the assaultive rather than the sexual/moral aspects of sex offenses. Also, a case currently under appeal (The Queen v. LeGallant) would remove the law's protection from children who apparently consent to sexual acts with an adult. New evidentiary provisions of the bill have been interpreted by the courts so as to perpetuate historical biases against victims of sexual crimes, and emerging definitions in the courts may still contribute to courtroom harassment of complainants. Chapter references.