ACCESS TO RAPE VICTIMS PHONE
Victims of rape/those alleging rape are to be asked to hand over their phones or risk having their cases dropped.
The Law on rape under section 1 (1) of the sexual offences Acts (SOA) 2003 states/provides that when A person 'A'(John) commits an offence, if he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person 'B'(Oroma) with his penis, 'B' doesn't consent to the penetration and 'A' doesn't reasonable believe 'B' consents.
Consents forms one of the major requirements/evidence to proof the offence of rape as provided under section 74 of the SPA 2003.
Victims of rape should be able to hand over their phones to the police for further investigation. This Statement has been argued in the United kingdom(UK) in 2019 following the collapse of several of rape trials, where some of the defendant were only belatedly granted disclosure of phones messages that undermined the accusations against them. It all about having a conservation to take them through, if there's material on a device which forms a reasonable line of enquiry
Some police and prosecutors have warned RAPE VICTIMS in some cases that if the victims do not allows the contents of their phones to be downloaded, they may not be able to pursue investigation. Some prosecutors insist that because materials is downloaded, it doesn't mean it will be examine.
Some writers argued that focusing on the information provided by the complainants, the victims themselves could become the object of investigation. Following this, several women who refused to hand over their devices could no longer process with their cases and this would help 'The Law in deciding rape matters fast.
Other writers argued that there would be risk and a breach of fundamental human rights of victims of rape hand over their phones. The reason for this is that, apart from obvious issue of privacy invasion, information not relevant to the cause could be extracted by the police and used against the victims in courts. Therefore infringe victims data protection and privacy rights and cause delay to investigation. Following this would stop rape victims from going to the police.
The Law provided under section 41 of the Youth justice and criminal evidence Acts 1999 places limits on the admissibility of questions at court relating to complaints sexual history, including material gathered from digital devices.
From the above arguments, access to rape victims phone should be unlawful and not to be adopted into the Law system because this will cause many women who are fearful of reporting rape for variety of reason, including the fear they will be disbelieved or judged. And the request for the police to download the contents of Rape victims' mobile phones amount to a ''digital strip search" and thus are unlawful. In UK Hill Qu insists that there has been no policy change and that legal safeguards restricting use of private information will be upheld
Nice write up. Thanks for the updates.
ReplyDeleteGood is not an answer please eloborate on my write up.
ReplyDeleteYour welcome
ReplyDeleteDo you have a case study to back up your write up . Nice write up, try give more indept insight,sometimes for evidence invasion of privacy may occur, some rapist sometimes take pictures and videos in threatening victims
ReplyDeleteMy write up is not about the rapist but victims. The UK tried last year to see if victims phone can be access or handed over to the police. The write up simply means should rape victims phone be handed over the police? I used section 41 Of the YjEA 1999 as a statute that prevail over a case study, also s1(1) &(74) SOA as well.
DeleteIn my humble opinion, the law has to be balanced against the accused and the complainants interest, whether the public investigation will lead to the successful conviction of the accused is a knowledge within the confines of the complainant, as based on instances of wrongful convictions, public policy as such raise the bar up as beyond reasonable doubt.
ReplyDeleteIn as much as the document will invade privacy and inferences drawn,the court should develop rules or guidelines not to treat the victim in an undignified manner, as the aim is to pursue justice and not to take anything from anyone.
Secondly , if the complainant want to ensure that the accused is convicted for his crimes then she should do justice for herself by aiding the investigation, the court system is an adversary conquest,it can treat the victim otherwise the fact people don't come forward is not an excuse because various reasons maybe as a result of power influence, fame ,stigma and fear ,the proper protection should be provided by social media awareness just like the US case of Harvey an American producer who has a case in court for several rape allegations, many came forward,the facit of it is to encourage them irrespective of the outcome to ensure public awareness and scrutiny,criticism and court are careful of public sensitive cases of this nature, the verdict of the court is not always certain but can be influenced by factors.
Although the digital protection is crucial,I agree protection, i defer on grounds that it will not aid future case law as speedily trials and resolve complex issues to serve as precedent for parties, the blanket ban will only raise suspicious questions and label her the victim the more,barring all the statutory law in reference to support her position, as society is built for criminal law.
Thanks.
This is my humble opinion
Your always Welcome.your last paragraph explain it all.
ReplyDeleteOROMA thanks for the updates. But Nigeria is lawless country where people are above the law. The police should not have access to victim of rape phone because this is against the law. It's our duty as a professional to Make sure victims don't suffer
ReplyDeleteOk
DeleteOROMA please send me your personal email. Want to discuss something important with you.
ReplyDeleteSorry to ask, pls who are you!
ReplyDeleteIs this the current Law?
ReplyDeleteNot really. This is a valid issue going on in our daily life. Where our public officer will do things which is against the law. So I am curious about it and want to discuss if it will be okay to adopt it into our system.
ReplyDelete