Sexual Offences Act under review

THE Department of Justice is mulling legislative changes to ensure successful implementation of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act.

Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery said that although there was some agreement that the current legislative framework was sufficient to provide for the effective implementation of the act‚ two areas of implementation needed to be evaluated and possibly amended.

These included some technical details around the competency of children to testify‚ as well as the state’s right to appeal on matters of fact.

Jeffery said the competency assessment of children to testify in court revolved particularly around Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

This section states that witnesses who do not understand the nature and the import of the oath can still testify without taking the oath‚ so long as they are admonished to speak the truth by the presiding or judicial officer.

On the issue of the state’s right to appeal‚ Jeffery said potential legislative changes would focus on extending the state’s right to appeal cases on matters of fact. At present‚ appeals by the state can only be lodged on matters of law.

The current act was promulgated in 2007‚ but the impact it has had on the number of sexual offences committed each year remains unclear.

Gender violence researcher Lisa Vetten said there had been little change in the number of arrests‚ cases referred to the courts‚ or convictions – 49 660 cases of sexual assault were reported in 2016-17.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority‚ 72% of cases that made it to prosecution resulted in a conviction. – TimesLIVE