Notice Board

DOI10.1350/ijep.2014.18.4.467
Published date01 October 2014
Date01 October 2014
Subject MatterNotice Board
NOTICEBOARD
NOTICEBOARD
NOTICEBOARD
Law reform and source material
Child sexual abuse—Australia
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Interim
Report, June 2014, available at
about-us/reports/interim-report-html>.
This interim report argues the need for two extra years (until the end of 2017) for a
national Royal Commission to report on child sexual abuse in institutional
contexts. Among the asserted grounds for an extension is the need to complete
ongoing research projects, including research into prosecution and trial
processes. Topics to be examined include joint trials, testimony by vulnerable
witnesses, the admissibility of (and warnings about) evidence (e.g. tendency
evidence), rules and practices on delayed complaints and complainants with a
disability, linguistic or cultural diversity, or from remote or rural areas.
Court processes—Australia
Australian Law Reform Commission, Equality, Capacity and Disability in Common-
wealth Laws, Discussion Paper 81, May 2014, available at
sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/whole_dp81.pdf>.
This discussion paper examining laws that deny or diminish equal protection to
people with a disability includes a chapter on access to justice. The proposals for
discussion include tests for when a litigation representative is needed to support
or make decisions for a civil litigant; an exception to solicitors’ duty of confidenti-
ality to allow an assessment of a client’s ability to give instructions; a modification
to the test for witness competence to take account of availability of communi-
cation and other support; an entitlement of witnesses to such support (including a
support person); the provision of bench books to guide judges on how to support
doi:10.1350/ijep.2014.18.4.467
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOF (2014) 18 E&P 359–364 359

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