Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Optimising the inquiry into child sex abuse

By Evan Whitton - posted Tuesday, 8 January 2013


At this inquiry, there is a risk that non-victims will gang up on someone for reasons other than sexual abuse, but the French system takes the presumption of innocence seriously: the suspect's lawyer has access to the dossier. If he can convince the juge that the truth lies elsewhere, that is the end of it.

Counsel assisting should not appear at hearings. The Commissioners, guided by the dossiers, should question witnesses.

Hearings

Advertisement

Alan Moir's cartoon in The Sydney Morning Herald of November 21, 2012 suggests that lawyers down on their luck and with mouths to feed are looking forward to more gainful employ at hearings.

A tight leash on lawyers

Lawyers' role should be strictly limited for three reasons.

First, the evidence a suspect gives cannot be used against him at a trial, but he can be done for perjury at the inquiry. It follows that the only sensible advice the pool lawyer can give him is: Tell the truth.

Second, in the French system, lawyers are not allowed to question witnesses directly lest they pollute the truth with sophistry: trick questions, false arguments etc. At these hearings, they can hand up questions for the chairman to ask.

Third, if lawyers are allowed to question witnesses, they might also revert to habit and prolong the process. The adversary system's longest spinout is 117 years.

Advertisement

Length

Fitzgerald said he could have spent 10 years doing nothing more than inquiring into ministerial re-zonings in south-east Queensland. (A Bjelkist minister, Russ Hinze, extorted bribes from some who wanted land re-zoned.) Fitzgerald stopped hearings after 18 months, and reported six months later.

The general truth about child sex crimes is already known; reinforcing that belief requires little more than a snapshot via selected cases of abuse and cover-up.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. Page 5
  7. 6
  8. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

2 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Evan Whitton is a former reporter who became a legal historian after seeing how two systems dealt with the same criminal, Queensland police chief Sir (as he then was) Terry Lewis.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Evan Whitton

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 2 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy