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The Case Of Judge Robin Camp

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Article Presentation Kathleen Harris and Alison Crawford (2015) wrote article in relation to, Robin Camp, a federal Canadian court judge, who was adjudicating a sexual assault case involving a 19-year-old women in Calgary, AB in 2014. During the victim’s testimony, Judge Camp asked the 19-year-old women “why she could not just keep her knees together” and “why didn’t you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn’t penetrate you” (Crawford & Harris, 2015). These statements spark issues with the public and our judicial system. Due to this statement, Judge Camp has received many complaints, as well as, under review for his behaviour from the council. Alison Crawford (2017) wrote another article relating to Judge Robin Camp stating …show more content…

This concept is very important in Canadian law as we do not want to send an innocent individual to jail. Judges follow guidelines and policies which are set in place, but they also use their discretion when formulating whether the individual is deemed guilty or innocent. In this case, the Judge found the accused not guilty of the offence, which demonstrates ignorance or lack of understanding regarding the law with sexual assault.
19-year-old Victim The victim values justice; she wants justice for the horrendous act which she endured. This concept also relates to safety and security. She wants to be able to feel safe and secure within our society. After this decision, will she trust in the criminal justice system again? It is hard to determine as she trusted our system to protect her, and it failed.
Judicial Council They value to uphold the current standards and societal norms. They also want their Judges to be current and knowledgeable on Canadian law, so they can use more empirical or factual evidence to help them stay neutral.
Identifying Possible Moral Dilemmas
Judge Robin Camp As a Judge, there job is to ensure the accused is held accountable for their actions, but ensuring there is enough evidence to prove they committed the crime. With the combination of proving one is innocent until proven guilty, and the ignorance for the law can be a reason for this judges …show more content…

A major issue is ignorance and misconduct should not be an excuse for an acquittal. Secondly, the Judge followed outdated stereotypes which is deemed unacceptable and does not align with the current Canadian values. Lastly, the questions Judge Camp asked, insinuated that the 19-year-old victim could have prevented the rape.
19-year-old Victim An ethical issue this raised is should victims of crime testify in court. By testifying in court there is a high chance a victim become re-victimized due to reliving the experience. Even though the victim understands this possibility, as a judge should they be able to ask questions directly to the victim.
Judicial Council An ethical issue this situation exposes is whether our Canadian judges are trained appropriately and are held accountable. It is important there is a sense of balance between the public and the criminal justice system.
Resolution
For this situation of misconduct, a solution using the ethical systems maybe ethics of care. Ethics of care focuses more on the needs of an individual rather than their rights (Pollock, 2015). In this case, if Judge Camp focused more on the needs of the 19-year-old, building the relationship, as well as, some empathy may have changed the result of this situation. Even if it does not change the result, this ethical system would have raised different

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