Case law

Question 1

INTENT R v MOHAN

Answer 1

Intent involves “a decision to bring about, in so far as it lies within the accused’s power, the commission of the offence…”

Question 2

INTENT R v WAAKA

Answer 2

A “fleeting or passing thought” is not sufficient; there must be a “firm intent or a firm purpose to effect an act.”

Question 3

CONSENT R v COX

Answer 3

Consent must be “full, voluntary, free and informed … freely and voluntarily given by a person in a position to form a rational judgment.”

Question 4

GENETALIA R v KOROHEKE

Answer 4

The genitalia comprise the reproduction organs, interior and exterior … they include the vulva [and] the labia, both interior and exterior, at the opening of the vagina.

Question 5

BELIEF R v GUTUAMA

Answer 5

Under the objective test the Crown must prove that “no reasonable person in the accused’s shoes could have thought that [the complainant] was consenting.”

Question 6

AGE Q v FORREST and FORREST

Answer 6

The best evidence possible in the circumstances should be adduced by the prosecution in proof of [the victim’s] age”.

Question 7

INDECENT ACT

R v COURT

Answer 7

Indecency means “conduct that right-thinking people will consider an affront to the sexual modesty of [the complainant].”

Question 8

INDECENT ASSAULT R v LEESON

Answer 8

The definition of “indecent assault” … is an assault accompanied with circumstances of indecency…

Question 9

ATTEMPT R v HARPUR

Answer 9

The Court may “have regard to the conduct viewed cumulatively up to the point when the conduct in question stops …the defendant’s conduct [may] be considered in its entirety. Considering how much remains to be done … is always relevant, though not determinative.”