A former senior Crown prosecutor says the question isn’t whether victims of sex abuse have been wrongly grilled on the witness stand. The challenge, says John Brooks, is judging how much is too much when it comes to the line of questioning.

Justice Minister John Hogan has apologized for saying it’s “impossible” for lawyers to re-traumatize complainants, citing his lack of criminal law experience and pledging to educate himself on the issue.

But retired Crown lawyer Mike Murray said that’s enough, calling Hogan unfit to be the justice minister.

Brooks, a lawyer on numerous sex assault trials including the Mount Cashel inquiry, says there’s no question lawyers have crossed the line, noting the problem is created by the adversarial nature of the justice system.

“Listen, this is unpleasant. People have to understand that this is—and you never want to deter complainants from testifying either—this is a practical reality. So for the comment to have been made last week that there’s no trauma, that’s just simply wrong. There’s inherent trauma. The question is, how much trauma and what can we do about it?”