Bill 1999 be read the second time. Similar rules were abolished in relation to the evidence of accomplices and children in 1994 and 1995 respectively. The current law Let me first explain the background and the problem we seek to resolve.
Corroboration is evidence which confirms the accuracy of other evidence in a material particular.
In criminal cases, it must confirm or tend to confirm the guilt of the accused. There are two aspects to the corroboration requirement under current law. Secondly, there are seven specific sexual offences under the Crimes Ordinance in respect of which the prosecution's evidence must, as a matter of law, be corroborated. The requirement for a warning to be administered by the judge has been criticised as inflexible as the requirement means that a direction from the trial judge is mandatory regardless of his assessment of the reliability of the evidence, or of the assistance that the jury need to be given in assessing that evidence. The warning has been criticised for its complexity as what can and cannot amount to corroboration are difficult and complex and have given rise to errors and appeals.