The Central Issues in the Rape Trial

Authors: Mohamad Ismail Mohamad Yunus
Publisher: IIUM Press
ISBN: 9789674183721
Weight: 0.4kg
Pages: 350pp
Year: 2015
Price: RM90

This book is not a study on why men rape women. The main focus of this book is to analyze and compares some of the legal issues and difficulties that rape presents in the criminal justice system in various jurisdictions and how it could and should be addressing them. The book begins with the historical conception of rape. It proceeds with the definition and scope of rape according to modern views and perspectives. The main concern is the law of consent. This is considered to be an important and crucial part of the law relating to sexual crimes and also has been labeled as “the heart of the rape trial” [See, Jenny Bargen and Elaine Fishwick, Sexual Assault: A National Perspective (Office of the Status of Women, Queensland, 1995) 62]. It begins with a discussion on the scope of the consent and the difference between the concepts of "against her will" and "without her consent". It then proceeds to elaborate on the factors that vitiate consent, such as fraud or mistake, incapacity of the victims that covers consent given by minors and young persons, persons who lack intellectual capacity, and persons in the state of unconsciousness. It continues with the vitiation of consent by threats or fear. This area will be divided into two parts, the first part deals with threats or fear of bodily harm and the second part deals with threats or fear of non-bodily harm and other pressures such as sexual exploitation, economic pressure, unlawful detention, or malicious prosecution, and sexual blackmail.

Mohamad Ismail Bin Hj Mohamad Yunus, holds a Diploma in Public Administration (UiTM), LL.B (Hons), and Masters in Comparative Laws from the International Islamic University Malaysia and obtained a Ph.D. in Criminal Evidence from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is a Senior Academic Staff at the Department of Legal Practice, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, IIUM. He has been lecturing since 1992, for various subjects such as Criminal Law, Islamic Criminal Law, Law of Evidence, Islamic Law of Evidence, and Criminal Procedure. He was the Director of Students Development, Deputy Dean (Student Affairs), Head of the Public Law Department, and Principal of College.