Criminal Law.

About the webinar

SUBSTANTIVE LAW

CPD Points: 1.5

It is common for people to deceive other people into engaging in sexual activity with them. But there is sharp division about whether all such deceitful people should be convicted of a sexual offence and, if all or some of them should, of which offences they should be convicted.

This seminar defends the view that, whenever an accused person uses deception to induce another person to engage in sexual activity her or him, s/he has has knowingly engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with that person. Accordingly, such accused should generally be convicted of non-consensual sexual offending. But it will also be argued that there are exceptions to this. The person who induces her spouse to engage in sex by fraudulently telling him that she is not having an affair; the Jew who induces a Nazi to participate by telling her that she is not Jewish; the person who procures ‘consent’ by falsely stating that he is unmarried, or that he is wealthier than he is; the person who causes a person to ‘consent’ by lying about her biological sex at birth, or by failing to disclose an HIV infection that he presents no real risk of transmitting — none of them should be held criminally liable. For while, in each of these cases, there is no consent, the law cannot provide absolute protection to sexual autonomy.

Consideration will be given to recent non-consensual sexual offence law reform in New South Wales (‘NSW’) and Queensland. It will be argued that, while the NSW approach to deceptive sex is better than the prevailing Queensland approach, it is deficient in certain respects.

Presenter:  Dr Andrew Dyer, University of Sydney Law School

CPD accreditation

Information for lawyers and barristers

If this educational activity is relevant to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim 1.5 MCLE/CPD points per webinar or 10.5 units for the full series. Practitioners are advised to check with the CPD governing body in their jurisdiction for the most accurate and up-to-date information. Find out about interstate accreditation. 

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

This is an online webinar. Once enrolled, you will be provided a link to the recording and can watch on demand.

Full series registration

CLICK HERE to register for the full series (7 webinars)

Further enquiries

• T +61 2 9351 0248
• E law.events@sydney.edu.au