The Ethical Obligations of Defence Counsel in Sexual Assault Cases

The treatment of sexual assault complainants by defence counsel has been the site of significant debate for legal ethicists. Even those with the strongest commitment to the ethics of zealous advocacy struggle with how to approach the cross-examination of sexual assault complainants. One of the most contentious issues in this debate pertains to the use of bias, stereotype and discriminatory tactics to advance one’s client’s position. This paper focuses on the professional responsibilities defence lawyers bear in sexual assault cases. Its central claim is as follows: Defence counsel are ethically obligated to restrict their carriage of a sexual assault case (including the evidence they seek to admit, the lines of examination and cross-examination they pursue and the closing arguments they submit) to conduct that supports finding of facts within the bounds of law. Put another way, defence counsel are ethically precluded from using strategies and advancing arguments that rely for their probative value on three social assumptions about sexual violence that have been legally rejected as baseless and irrelevant

An Examination of How the Canadian Military\u27s Legal System Responds to Sexual Assault

Although the Canadian military has been conducting sexual assault trials for over twenty years, there has been no academic study of them and no external review of them. This review of the military’s sexual assault cases (the first of its kind) yields several important findings. First, the conviction rate for the offence of sexual assault by courts martial is dramatically lower than the rate in Canada’s civilian criminal courts. The difference between acquittal rates in sexual assault cases in these two systems appears to be even larger. Since Operation Honour was launched in 2015 only one soldier has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female member of the Canadian Armed Forces by Canada’s military legal system. (One other conviction was overturned on appeal and is pending before the Supreme Court of Canada.)In addition, plea bargains in which accused individuals can avoid Criminal Code convictions by pleading guilty to military specific discipline offences like drunkenness,conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, and disgraceful conduct have been used in some cases involving aggressive sexual attacks. Sanctions for even these serious sexual attacks involved fines and reprimands. Last, the decisions of military judges in some cases suggest a critical failure to recognize the Canadian military’s culture of hostility to women documented in the Deschamps Report. Together these findings raise the following question: regardless of the outcome of the current constitutional challenge to courts martial proceedings in Canada (in R v Beaudry), should the military’s legal system continue to maintain jurisdiction over sexual assault cases? Bien que les militaires canadiens mènent des procès pour agression sexuelle depuis plus de vingt ans, ils n’ont fait l’objet d’aucune étude théorique et d’aucun examen externe. Le présent examen des cas d’agression sexuelle par des militaires (le premier du genre) permet de tirer plusieurs conclusions importantes. Premièrement, letaux de condamnation pour l’infraction d’agression sexuelle par une cour martiale est nettement inférieur à celui des cours criminelles civiles du Canada. La différence entre les taux d’acquittement dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle dans ces deux systèmes semble être encore plus grande. Depuis le lancement de l’Opération Honneur en 2015, un seul soldat a été reconnu coupable d’agression sexuelle contre une femme membre des Forces armées canadiennes par le système judiciaire militaire canadien. (Une autre condamnation a été annulée en appel et est en instance devant la Cour suprême du Canada.) De plus, des négociations de plaidoyer permettant aux accusés d’éviter des condamnations en vertu du Code criminel en plaidant coupable à des infractions relatives à des mesures disciplinaires militaires précises comme l’ivresse, la conduite préjudiciable au bon ordre et à la discipline et la conduite honteuse ontété utilisées dans certains cas d’agressions sexuelles. Les sanctions, même pour ces graves agressions sexuelles, comprenaient des amendes et des réprimandes. Enfin, les décisions des juges militaires dans certains cas suggèrent un manque critique dere connaissance de la culture d’hostilité des militaires canadiens envers les femmes documentées dans le rapport Deschamps. Ensemble, ces conclusions soulèvent la question suivante: quelle que soit l’issue de la contestation constitutionnelle en cours devant les cours martiales au Canada (dans R. c. Beaudry), le système juridique militaire devrait-il continuer d’exercer sa compétence dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle

Judicial Audiences: A Case Study of Justice David Watt\u27s Literary Judgments

Applicants to the federal judiciary identify three main audiences for their decisions: the involved and affected parties, the public, and the legal profession. This case study examines a set of decisions authored by Justice David Watt of the Ontario Court of Appeal, involving the rape, torture, murder or attempted murder of women, in which he attempts humour or uses puns, parody, stark imagery and highly stylized and colloquial language to introduce the violence, or factual circumstances surrounding the violence, in these cases. It assess these introductions in relation to the audiences judges have identified as important for their decisions. The study concludes that these literary introductions may not speak productively to any of the three audiences identified as critical by applicants to the federal judiciary. For example, Justice Watt’s writing in these introductions does not reflect the empathy and sensitivity that some judges have identified as an important feature of writing that is intended for the parties (in their applications for appointment). The study also highlights two interrelated factors that judges should consider when writing decisions involving gender-based violence with a view to the public audience that these decisions are likely to receive. These factors are the crisis of public faith in the legal system’s ability to respond appropriately to incidents of gender-based harm, and the importance of writing judicial decisions that do not obscure the social context and dynamics that produce gender-based violence. Justice Watt’s unorthodox writing in these cases does not reflect consideration of these factors. Justice Watt’s short, staccato style introductions to decisions have received attention. His introductions, which differ from the conventional style of legal judgments, have been the subject of legal blogs, mainstream media articles, and professional praise and criticism. Decisions that include intentional stylistic departures from conventional judicial writing, including the ones written by Justice Watt, raise particular issues regarding the notion of judicial audience. Justice Watt’s departure from the conventional style of legal writing, particularly given the gruesome and tragic facts involved in many of the decisions he has written, raises numerous questions: Who is the audience for these literary judgments? What are some of the attendant risks of delivering literary judgments to particular audiences? Do Justice Watt’s literary judgments speak appropriately and productively to the three constituencies for court decisions identified by judges themselves: the parties (understood broadly), the public, and the legal profession

An Examination of How the Canadian Military’s Legal System Responds to Sexual Assault

Although the Canadian military has been conducting sexual assault trials for over twenty years, there has been no academic study of them and no external review of them. This review of the military’s sexual assault cases (the first of its kind) yields several important findings. First, the conviction rate for the offence of sexual assault by courts martial is dramatically lower than the rate in Canada’s civilian criminal courts. The difference between acquittal rates in sexual assault cases in these two systems appears to be even larger. Since Operation Honour was launched in 2015 only one soldier has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female member of the Canadian Armed Forces by Canada’s military legal system. (One other conviction was overturned on appeal and is pending before the Supreme Court of Canada.)In addition, plea bargains in which accused individuals can avoid Criminal Code convictions by pleading guilty to military specific discipline offences like drunkenness,conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, and disgraceful conduct have been used in some cases involving aggressive sexual attacks. Sanctions for even these serious sexual attacks involved fines and reprimands. Last, the decisions of military judges in some cases suggest a critical failure to recognize the Canadian military’s culture of hostility to women documented in the Deschamps Report. Together these findings raise the following question: regardless of the outcome of the current constitutional challenge to courts martial proceedings in Canada (in R v Beaudry), should the military’s legal system continue to maintain jurisdiction over sexual assault cases? Bien que les militaires canadiens mènent des procès pour agression sexuelle depuis plus de vingt ans, ils n’ont fait l’objet d’aucune étude théorique et d’aucun examen externe. Le présent examen des cas d’agression sexuelle par des militaires (le premier du genre) permet de tirer plusieurs conclusions importantes. Premièrement, letaux de condamnation pour l’infraction d’agression sexuelle par une cour martiale est nettement inférieur à celui des cours criminelles civiles du Canada. La différence entre les taux d’acquittement dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle dans ces deux systèmes semble être encore plus grande. Depuis le lancement de l’Opération Honneur en 2015, un seul soldat a été reconnu coupable d’agression sexuelle contre une femme membre des Forces armées canadiennes par le système judiciaire militaire canadien. (Une autre condamnation a été annulée en appel et est en instance devant la Cour suprême du Canada.) De plus, des négociations de plaidoyer permettant aux accusés d’éviter des condamnations en vertu du Code criminel en plaidant coupable à des infractions relatives à des mesures disciplinaires militaires précises comme l’ivresse, la conduite préjudiciable au bon ordre et à la discipline et la conduite honteuse ontété utilisées dans certains cas d’agressions sexuelles. Les sanctions, même pour ces graves agressions sexuelles, comprenaient des amendes et des réprimandes. Enfin, les décisions des juges militaires dans certains cas suggèrent un manque critique dere connaissance de la culture d’hostilité des militaires canadiens envers les femmes documentées dans le rapport Deschamps. Ensemble, ces conclusions soulèvent la question suivante: quelle que soit l’issue de la contestation constitutionnelle en cours devant les cours martiales au Canada (dans R. c. Beaudry), le système juridique militaire devrait-il continuer d’exercer sa compétence dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle

Sex and the Supremes: Towards a Legal Theory of Sexuality

This thesis examines how the Supreme Court of Canada, across legal contexts, has tended to conceptualize sexuality. It focuses primarily on areas of public law including sexual assault law, equality for sexual minorities, sexual harassment and obscenity and indecency laws. There were a number of trends revealed upon reviewing the jurisprudence in this area. First, the Court’s decisions across legal contexts reveal a tendency to conceptualize sexuality as innate, as a pre-social naturally occurring phenomenon and as an essential element of who we are as individuals. This is true whether one is speaking of the approach to gay and lesbian rights, the occurrence of sexual harassment, or the sexual abuse of children. However, there is an exception to this trend. The exception relates to the Court’s conceptual approach towards sexual violence against adults. The research revealed, likely as a result of feminist activism both in the legislative and judicial arenas, that there has been a shift in the way that the Court understands sexuality in the context of sexual violence. It is a shift away from understanding it as pre-social and naturally occurring towards understanding it as a product of society, as a function of social context. This change in the Court’s conceptual approach towards sexual violence has engendered a shift in the law’s moral focus as well – a shift away from a moral focus on specific sexual acts and sexual propriety and towards a moral focus on sexual actors and sexual integrity. The thesis weaves together the analytical observations about the jurisprudence just described with a theoretical argument that is both grounded in the case law and which draws upon a number of different theorists. The argument developed suggests that the Court, regardless of the legal issue involved, ought to conceptualize sexuality as socially constructed/ contextually contingent, that it ought to orient itself towards protecting sexual integrity, and that it ought to understand this sexual integrity as a common interest

An Examination of How the Canadian Military’s Legal System Responds to Sexual Assault

Although the Canadian military has been conducting sexual assault trials for over twenty years, there has been no academic study of them and no external review of them. This review of the military’s sexual assault cases (the first of its kind) yields several important findings. First, the conviction rate for the offence of sexual assault by courts martial is dramatically lower than the rate in Canada’s civilian criminal courts. The difference between acquittal rates in sexual assault cases in these two systems appears to be even larger. Since Operation Honour was launched in 2015 only one soldier has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female member of the Canadian Armed Forces by Canada’s military legal system. (One other conviction was overturned on appeal and is pending before the Supreme Court of Canada.)In addition, plea bargains in which accused individuals can avoid Criminal Code convictions by pleading guilty to military specific discipline offences like drunkenness,conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, and disgraceful conduct have been used in some cases involving aggressive sexual attacks. Sanctions for even these serious sexual attacks involved fines and reprimands. Last, the decisions of military judges in some cases suggest a critical failure to recognize the Canadian military’s culture of hostility to women documented in the Deschamps Report. Together these findings raise the following question: regardless of the outcome of the current constitutional challenge to courts martial proceedings in Canada (in R v Beaudry), should the military’s legal system continue to maintain jurisdiction over sexual assault cases? Bien que les militaires canadiens mènent des procès pour agression sexuelle depuis plus de vingt ans, ils n’ont fait l’objet d’aucune étude théorique et d’aucun examen externe. Le présent examen des cas d’agression sexuelle par des militaires (le premier du genre) permet de tirer plusieurs conclusions importantes. Premièrement, letaux de condamnation pour l’infraction d’agression sexuelle par une cour martiale est nettement inférieur à celui des cours criminelles civiles du Canada. La différence entre les taux d’acquittement dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle dans ces deux systèmes semble être encore plus grande. Depuis le lancement de l’Opération Honneur en 2015, un seul soldat a été reconnu coupable d’agression sexuelle contre une femme membre des Forces armées canadiennes par le système judiciaire militaire canadien. (Une autre condamnation a été annulée en appel et est en instance devant la Cour suprême du Canada.) De plus, des négociations de plaidoyer permettant aux accusés d’éviter des condamnations en vertu du Code criminel en plaidant coupable à des infractions relatives à des mesures disciplinaires militaires précises comme l’ivresse, la conduite préjudiciable au bon ordre et à la discipline et la conduite honteuse ontété utilisées dans certains cas d’agressions sexuelles. Les sanctions, même pour ces graves agressions sexuelles, comprenaient des amendes et des réprimandes. Enfin, les décisions des juges militaires dans certains cas suggèrent un manque critique dere connaissance de la culture d’hostilité des militaires canadiens envers les femmes documentées dans le rapport Deschamps. Ensemble, ces conclusions soulèvent la question suivante: quelle que soit l’issue de la contestation constitutionnelle en cours devant les cours martiales au Canada (dans R. c. Beaudry), le système juridique militaire devrait-il continuer d’exercer sa compétence dans les affaires d’agression sexuelle

The Legal Regulation of Sadomasochism and the So-Called “Rough Sex Defence”

The focus of this article is on the judicial application of Canada’s sexual assault doctrine in the context of the so called ‘rough sex defence’. Canadian criminal courts have seen an increased prevalence of legal narratives about S/M in recent years. In particular, courts are increasingly confronted with individuals who defend themselves against allegations of sexual assault by claiming that the impugned acts constituted consensual S/M or ‘rough sex’. The analysis is aimed at illustrating the way in which courts may fail to properly apply legal doctrine because of a problematic approach to the S/M context in which allegations arose. Le présent article porte sur l’application judiciaire de la doctrine canadienne en matière d’agression sexuelle dans le contexte de la défense dite des « pratiques sexuelles brutales ». Au cours des dernières années, les tribunaux pénaux canadiens ont constaté une prévalence accrue des exposés des faits mentionnant des pratiques de sadomasochisme. En particulier, les tribunaux sont de plus en plus confrontés à des personnes se défendant contre des allégations d’agression sexuelle en affirmant que les actes reprochés constituaient du sadomasochisme ou des « pratiques sexuelles brutales » consensuels. L’analyse vise à illustrer la manière dont les tribunaux peuvent omettre d’appliquer correctement la doctrine juridique en raison d’une approche problématique à l’égard du contexte du sadomasochisme duquel les allégations découlent

Celebrating \u3ci\u3eFour Unruly Women\u3c/i\u3e

In 1846, prison administrators at the Kingston Penitentiary replaced the daily whipping and flogging of prisoners with a new form punishment - The Box. The Box, as Ted McCoy describes it in his new book, Four Unruly Women: S fries f Incarceration and Resistance from Canada\u27s Most Notorious Prison, was a six foot tall, three foot deep coffin used to impose a form of extreme isolation on unruly prisoners. The Box became the primary form of severe punishment for women prisons at Kingston when flogging was abolished. Four Unruly Women depicts a shocking portrait of the cruelty and inhumanity imposed upon the women imprisoned in Kingston Penitentiary between 1835 and 1935. McCoy also tells a powerful story about the incredible courage exhibited by women prisoners who resisted the practices of system oppression and patriarchy relied upon to structure the carceral environment in which they were imprisoned. In addition to floggings and extreme isolation these women were placed in dungeons, starved and, of course, sexually assaulted