Robson Crim Legal Blog

At the heart of sexual assault cases is the presence or absence of consent, and whether the consent was freely given. Unfortunately, this defence often relies on the complainant’s prior sexual activities and can make trial for sexual assault victims an even more humiliating and demeaning experience then it needs to be. This defence often relies upon the twin myth reasoning, which is the idea that complainants with a prior sexual history are firstly more likely to have consent

Generally, bestiality is a topic that one would normally avoid bringing up at dinner parties, in casual conversation or anywhere, really. Bestiality, which refers to a human engaging in sex with an animal, is a topic that is so unsavoury and so revolting, that even the mere mention of it normally elicits a look of horror from the most strong-stomached individual. It is no surprise that, historically, legislators, the judiciary, and the public have not been particularly keen t

The decision in DLW reflected the majority of the court not wanting to open the door to new expansive animal rights law rather than truly believing that bestiality has always included penetration. Two major discussion points support this claim. First the major flaws in the majorities reasoning as pointed out in Abella’s dissent and second the analysis by Jochelson & Gacek of what it would have looked like if they had attempted a Labaye harm test for the offence of bestiality.

Bestiality is arguably one of the most taboo topics in criminal law. So much so that the lack of conversation pertaining to it in criminal courts is more telling than what has been said. The struggle with bestiality became apparent in R v DLW, where the court struggled to make sense of an offence that is rarely explicitly analyzed.

Led by Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders, a massive campaign was kicked off to spread awareness