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Can We Accept the Acceptable?: Evidence and procedure in child sexual abuse cases in recent Australian law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Extract

In an earlier article (Bates, 1990), it was suggested that the test enunciated by the High Court of Australia in In the Marriage of M (1988) F.L.C. 91–979 for denying custody or access in cases where there had been allegations of child sexual abuse was inappropriate. In that case, it will be remembered, the High Court stated (at 77,081) that:

To achieve a proper balance, the test is best expressed by saying that a court will not grant custody or access to a parent if that custody or access would expose the child to an unacceptable risk of sexual abuse.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

Bates, F. (1987) ‘Some Recent Evidentiary Developments in Australian Family Law’ in Australian Law Journal Vol. 61, 277.Google Scholar
Bates, F. (1988) ‘Child Sexual Abuse and the Courts: The Message from Custody and Access Cases. An Old Light on a New Problem’ in University of Tasmania Law Review Vol. 9, 87.Google Scholar
Bates, F. (1990) ‘Evidence, Child Sexual Abuse and the High Court of Australia’ in International and Comparative Law Quarterly Vol. 39, 413.Google Scholar
Bell, S. (1988) When Salem came to the Bow, London: Pan.Google Scholar
Eggleston, R. (1983) Evidence, Proof and Probability (2nd ed.) London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.Google Scholar