Guiding principles
338 Guiding principles
New s. 338 inserted by No. 68/2009 s. 50.
It is the intention of Parliament that in interpreting and applying this Part in any criminal proceeding that relates (wholly or partly) to a charge for a sexual offence, courts are to have regard to the fact that—
there is a high incidence of sexual violence within society; and
sexual offences are significantly under-reported; and
a significant number of sexual offences are committed against women, children and other vulnerable persons including persons with a cognitive impairment; and
offenders are commonly known to their victims; and
sexual offences often occur in circumstances where there is unlikely to be any physical sign of an offence having occurred.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandumSecond reading speech
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