Sexual Violence Discussion Document Released

A discussion document has recently been issued by Justice Minister Annette King to engage community views as part of the Governments ongoing focus on reducing sexual violence.Improvements to Sexual Violence Legislation in New Zealand, is aimed at seeking public views on three proposed law change areas to the Crimes Act and the Evidence Act to improve the criminal justice response to sexual offending:- Whether the law of consent should be changed by adding a definition of what consent is. - Whether the court should be required to take into account any steps the defendant took to discover whether the complainant was consenting when a defense of reasonable belief in consent is raised. - Whether the law that protects complainants from being questioned about their sexual history should be extended to questions about their sexual history with the defendant.The paper has also been designed to seek views on alternative approaches to addressing sexual violence such as restorative justice and specialist prosecution units.The discussion document is available on the Ministry of Justice website at:www.justice.govt.nz/discussion/sexual-violence-legislationSubmissions should be sent by the 30th of September, 2008 to: svsubmission@justice.govt.nz Submissions can also be sent to: Sexual Violence Legislative SubmissionsMinistry of JusticePO Box 180WELLINGTONContact:John Harvey: (04) 471 9305John Saunders: (04) 470 6851