|
|
Irish weddings are bad enough with the drunken brawls...now this. |
Posted on 05/29/2006 12:45:27 PM PDT by wagglebee
DUBLIN, Ireland, May 29, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ireland's Supreme Court struck down the nation's statutory rape law as unconstitutional last week, leaving a legal void the Department of Justice is now scrambling to fill.
A provision in the law made sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 15 automatically considered rape, regardless of the circumstances. The Supreme Court ruled the law was unconstitutional on the grounds it did not leave room for a genuine mistake, even if it were proven that a girl had lied about her age, reported the Irish Emigrant this morning.
The ruling resulted from a recent case of a man charged with four counts of statutory rape for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. He was 18 at the time; the girl told him she was 16.
Although the ruling accepted the man's defence, the court did state that "the protection of young girls from engaging in consensual sex is a legitimate end to be pursued by appropriate means," indicating the need for new legislation.
Multiple cases of statutory rape charges before the courts were thrown into question by the ruling, media reported last week. RTÉ news reported Friday on a 38-year old man convicted of the unlawful carnal knowledge of a 12-year-old girl, two years ago, who was expected to challenge his conviction in court this week. The Irish Times reported Saturday on several cases, including a 26-year-old man who was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Rape support groups expressed outrage over the ruling, saying it would give a "green light" to child sex offenders. A spokeswoman for the Rape Crisis Network said the new laws could strengthen the protection of children, however, by including young boys in the legislation, a group left largely unprotected by the 1935 law, reported the Emigrant.
New laws closing the temporary legal gap are expected to be in place within two weeks.
DISCUSSION ABOUT:
Irish Supreme Court Strikes Down Age of Sexual Consent Law
Now the left will look for a way to do away with statuatory rape laws altogether.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be included in or removed from the MORAL ABSOLUTES PINGLIST, please FReepMail wagglebee.
The courts are out of control everywhere, it seems.
Ping for you.
I think I read that Aer Lingus is having a sale on airfares to Ireland this week.
Ping.
These guys seem determined to show us that an independent judiciary is simply something that doesn't work.
Ridiculous. If she lied about her age (and lets face it, some 12 year old girls look 18), and admitted it in court, how can he be charged?
Then throw out the charges not the law.
St. Patrick pray for them.
|
|
Irish weddings are bad enough with the drunken brawls...now this. |
I guess there are black robed Nazgul all over the world. Judicial tyranny.
It's a terrible thing that convicted offenders are taking advantage of the Irish Supreme Court ruling - but, to be fair, it was bad law considering cases where a teenaged girl lied about her age to an older man - and it couldn't be used as defence in court.
I hope the Irish government bring in a better worded law - except 'Irish government' and 'well-worded law' are mutually exclusive notions...
I wish they'd sell Aer Lingus..
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but the 18-year old male may be entitled to some understanding. I'm not sure he really should be branded a rapists and sex offender for the rest of his life (not to mention serve a long jail term), if this girl really made a plausible claim that she was 15 or 16.
I've got far less sympathy for older males who make the same claim.
"Then throw out the charges not the law."
Now that does not make a lot of sense. Why have a law that is wrong? Do you think that eveyone who is convicted of it should then have to work there way up to the supreme court to get it thrown out. If this law had been written with common sense instead of a MOB mentality then this would not have happened. There was another thread on this here on FR a few days ago. People had a much different oppinion on that one. That fact is that this was bad law. The man was entitled to a defense. Not that what he did was right, but you have to look at the whole picture in this day and age when we are turnning into a police state. Sooner or later we are going to be found guilty of some crime. If you take the right of defense away from some then someday it will taken from you as well. It is a bad precident.
Under the circumstances, you are correct.
There's something rotten in Ireland.
No, you're not in the minority. In virtually every state in this country, 18 year olds and 16 year olds can have sex without breaking the law. Heck, a 15 year old and a 14 year old can in most states.
A law that makes no provision for teenagers having sex with other teenagers near their age is just wrong. There is no sense in criminalizing what most of us have done ourselves.
This was a bad law, and needs to be re-written. That's what supreme courts do...throw out bad laws and force legislators to think again and make the law sensible.
An eighteen year old with a fourteen year old who may or may not have lied about her age is one thing.
This is quite another.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
