Purposes, Roles and Beliefs in the Hostile Questioning of Vulnerable Witnesses

Ester S M LEUNG*, John Gibbons

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the Hong Kong legal system, as in many Common Law systems, the crime of ‘rape’ has been abolished and replaced with various categories of ‘sexual assault’. Where a person below the age of sixteen is the complainant it is called ‘sexual assault on a minor’. Until assault is proved, the legal term for the person who does the sexual assault is ‘the accused’ and the person who is assaulted is ‘the complainant’. After the accused is convicted, the respective terms become ‘assailant’ and ‘victim’. In the cases we discuss today the male accused were found guilty, so we will occasionally use the term ‘victim’when discussing this participant, although we will mainly use the neutral ‘witness’ when it is being referred to in the context of the trial itself. In sexual assault cases in Hong Kong, the complainant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that s/he did not consent, even if s/he is a minor.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Language of Sexual Crime
EditorsJanet Cotterill
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Chapter8
Pages139-158
Number of pages20
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9780230592780
ISBN (Print)9780230001701, 9781349280063
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2007

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Arts and Humanities(all)
  • Psychology(all)
  • Social Sciences(all)

User-Defined Keywords

  • Sexual Assault
  • Sexual Intercourse
  • Sexual Assault Case
  • Defence Counsel
  • Verbal Projection

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