1. Empirical investigation of what goes on in courtrooms and their consequences for the accused, the victims and the wider community, are important. However, such empirical observation is not immune from the vagaries and values of legal rhetoric—not least because it must be addressed to someone, no matter how attenuated or distanced that address is.
2. It would also be necessary to take into account the fact that for some time now the judicial profession in Victoria has not fared well in the hands of the Victorian government.
3. See Papadimitropoulos (1958) 98 CLR 249, 252 [my interpolation].
4. However, it is still possible to read the standard of will playing an implicit role in sex law. This is because the standard of consent is a more general concept and in fact incorporates the more limited standard of will.