Suggestions on reform of the law of rape in South Australia

Introduction The law of rape in South Australia is governed by the common law and the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 SA. Recently, there have been inquiries as to the low conviction rate for sexual assault offences (1.8 per cent of reported rape cases against adult women resulted in convictions in 2002), which might indicate the insufficiency of law in this area . There are many reasons for the low conviction rate. Among all, emphasis will be put on …

…accused. The new section s.48 Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 should be re-drafted as follows: A person who has sexual intercourse with another person without the consent of that other person, except that person has an honest and reasonable belief that that other person was consenting to the sexual intercourse, shall (whether or not physical resistance is offered by that other person) be guilty of the felony of rape and liable to be imprisoned for life.