Judges are supposed to judge
Re: Reasonable Doubts, Barbara Kay, July 27.
Judges should think like lawyers, not like ideologues. We lament the judges in theocracies who administer, for example, Shariah law, but it seems some of our own judges are also more guided by politically correct thinking than purely legal principles. Justice Marvin Zuker’s thinking is disturbingly like that of Shariah, only in favour of the woman rather than the man. Either extreme is unjust.
He said/she said battles of credibility are always hard to adjudicate, worse if there are no witnesses. The accused may have actually committed the offence, but the analytic process Zuker used to arrive at the decision was far from objective and neutral, being laced with diatribe and sarcasm. All an accused needs do in a criminal trial is raise a reasonable doubt and here it seems the defendant raised several concerns about the complainant’s behaviour and credibility. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done.
If the appeal court allows other judges to follow Zuker we will soon be in a witch hunt where every male can be convicted of rape on the flimsiest, inconsistent and dubious evidence. At this rate, any allegation may result in a conviction.