LEV3701 Assignment 1

LEV3701 Assignment 1 Law of Evidence: LEV 3701 Student no: Unique no: Assignment: 01 1.1) Section 227 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 on the court’s function when assessing character evidence of a complainant in a rape or indecent assault case. Character evidence: According to Schwikkard, the two most important categories of character evidence consist of: 1) a person’s general reputation and 2) a person’s inherent tendency to think or act a certain way.1 The crux of section 277 on character evidence of a complainant and the court’s function in this regard. The primary purpose of section 277 is to mitigate the trauma suffered by victims of sexual crimes and to protect those victims from reliving traumatic experiences. The legislature has done this by putting in place restrictive guidelines which dictate the circumstances under which courts may allow the defence to lead evidence with respect to a complainant’s sexual history or conduct.2 However, section 277 still makes it clear that the complainant and the accused’s rights are interrelated and must be balanced. The court’s function above all is thus to ensure that both complainant and accused enjoy the protection of their fundamental rights throughout the legal process – so that in the end, justice prevails. Practical application of section 277 of the Criminal Procedure Act has shown that “our courts appear more willing (in cases of an indecent nature) to allow questioning or evidence that goes to the crux of the defence and is not merely limited to the