Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) This section
applies to any proceedings for a sexual offence in respect of a complainant
who was under the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged offence.
(2) Evidence by an
expert on the subject of child behaviour about any or all of the
following —
(a)
child development and behaviour generally;
(b)
child development and behaviour in cases where children have been the victims
of sexual offences,
that is relevant to
the proceedings is admissible in them notwithstanding that the
evidence —
(c)
relates to a fact in issue or to an ultimate issue in the proceedings; or
(d) is a
matter of common knowledge; or
(e) is
relevant only to the credibility of the complainant.
(3) If evidence
described in subsection (2) is admitted in a trial by jury, this section does
not affect any duty of the trial judge to warn the jury about any matter
relating to the complainant’s evidence; but any such warning must be
consistent with that evidence.
[Section 36BE inserted by No. 2 of 2008
s. 42(1).]