What is the current state of the law on consent in sexual assault cases?

Once it is determined that the complainant in a sexual assault prosecution did not consent, it will be a rare case where the accused will be seen as harbouring an honest by mistaken belief in consent: Pappajohn v. The Queen (1980), 1980 CanLII 13 (SCC), 14 C.R. (3d) 243 (S.C.C.). It is the rare exception rather than the general rule that a sexual assault will have been “committed by accident.” Park, per L’Heureux-Dubee J. at p. 15. What is required is more than a mere assertion that the accused held an honest but mistaken belief in consent: Pappajohn, at p. 507.