Sexual assault law training for judges legislation tabled

Training in sexual assault law could become mandatory for P.E.I.’s provincial court judges if an Opposition MLA gets a private members bill passed. Borden-Kinkora MLA Jamie Fox tabled the Mandatory Sexual Assault Law Education Act recently, which he says will help ensure the judiciary has an understanding of the trauma that victims have to relive in judicial proceedings. “We must make sure that we give them the full confidence of the court that they’re going to be heard and they’re going to be listened to,” Fox said.

If passed, Fox’s bill would require justices of the peace and provincial court judges to complete education in sexual assault law before they can be appointed.

That training, as set out in the proposed legislation, would include instruction about acceptable evidence, principles of consent, the conduct of sexual assault proceedings and myths associated with sexual assault complaints.

Current judges wouldn’t need to take the training. Fox said the number of sexual assault cases coming before the courts has become more prominent in recent years. “I think we must ensure that the judiciary have the training required to deal with these type of complaints and instances,” he said. Although he didn’t have specific incidents in P.E.I. that would have caused concern, Fox said he knows from his experiences as a police officer how traumatic reporting a sexual assault can be for a victim.

“I think we just can’t take that chance,” Fox said.