Although they are directed by a judge, jurors may have to assess complex medical evidence and consider issues such as coercive control, strangulation and rape myths. Some report feeling out of their depth and traumatised by the evidence.<\/p>\n
Money has proposed replacing juries with specially trained panels \u2013 potentially including sexual violence practitioners, medical professionals and people who work with victims and perpetrators \u2013 so complainants and defendants can have their cases assessed by people who understand the complexities of sexual violence.<\/p>\n
She says her proposal would not change the Crown\u2019s burden of proof or defendants\u2019 right to a fair trial. Similar models operate in parts of Europe.<\/p>\n
Another view is that the system, not the jury, is the problem.<\/p>\n
Canterbury University legal expert and barrister Dr Thomas Harre agrees there are issues but questions whether replacing juries with a panel of experts is the solution.<\/p>\n
He says there are \u201ccorrosive\u201d delays in getting to trial, the complainant has to relive the sexual violence (regardless of who hears the evidence) and there are structural issues around the complainant\u2019s place within criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n
Harre suggests reforms should focus on reducing delay, increasing support for complainants and improving their standing within the justice process, including independent legal representation.<\/p>\n
According to a Ministry of Justice report, the majority of sexual assault defendants elect a jury trial rather than a judge-alone trial. In 2024, 86% of sexual assault cases that progressed to trial opted for a jury trial.<\/p>\n
Reporting rates for sexual violence are low for a range of reasons.<\/p>\n
Among them, victims are understandably reluctant to go through a lengthy legal process and, in a jury trial, have to relive a traumatising experience before a group of strangers (who may later recognise them in their community).<\/p>\n
Victim survivor-blaming and credibility-questioning \u2013 including because of their behaviour, clothing or sexual history \u2013 is another deterrent.<\/p>\n
Money\u2019s advice to the Government certainly merits further discussion. However, whether or not it is adopted, it is clear the court system for sexual violence cases needs an overhaul.<\/p>\n
Victim survivors need better support through a safer process and not to be blamed or shamed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although they are directed by a judge, jurors may have to assess complex medical evidence and consider issues…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8831,88375,1349,13600,13997,49631,9812,117,111,43,139,69,5256,5204,17703,13118,2963],"class_list":["post-587143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-an","tag-cornerstone","tag-court","tag-democracy","tag-editorial","tag-juries","tag-needs","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-overhaul","tag-process","tag-sexual","tag-violence","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}