NCJ Number
154555
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 28 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1995) Pages: 32-54
Date Published
1995
Length
23 pages
Annotation
The way the criminal justice system of New South Wales (NSW) handles the prosecution of child sexual assault cases and the child witnesses involved was examined using court statistics on the outcomes of child sexual assault prosecutions and the results of a survey by the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Abstract
The research focused on all cases of child sexual abuse from April 1991 to April 1992, including 254 committal and summary hearings in local courts and 263 trials in district and supreme courts. Results indicated a stabilization of the earlier increase in the number of cases going to trial and a decline in the guilty plea rate and conviction rate, and even a slight reversal of these trends since 1988. The results indicated that reforming the court process to allow children's evidence to be heard may simply result in more children being exposed to a potentially traumatic experience with a less than even chance of achieving a conviction. Changes in legislation and court procedures are necessary but are unlikely to be successful without an accompanying change in attorneys' attitudes and perceptions. At the same time, a reduction in the inevitable delays in the prosecution process and increased judicial control over the style of questioning and the language used during cross- examination would help to ease the experience of testifying for child witnesses. Tables, figures, notes, and 28 references (Author abstract modified)