Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 before the Dail
- miriamdelahunt
- Aug 8, 2023
- 2 min read
A new Bill has been put before the Dail from the 17th July which will revise certain areas of the law in relation to sexual offences and human trafficking. As per the Explanatory Memorandum, the features of the proposed legislation are:
(a) Ensuring anonymity for both victims and the accused in trials for sexual assault, including by excluding the public from the court room.
(b) Extending the right of separate legal representation and legal aid in certain circumstances to victims in trials for sexual assault.
(c) Amending the mens rea or mental element of rape to provide that the offence is committed where there is non-consensual intercourse and the man “does not reasonably believe” at the time of the intercourse that the woman consents.
(d) Putting the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of human trafficking on a statutory footing.
(e) Clearing the final obstacles to ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
(f) Amending the Defence Act 1954 to provide that persons subject to military law who commit a sexual offence are liable to be tried by courts-martial only where these offences were committed outside the State. Where such offences occur within the State, they will be dealt with by An Garda Síochána and the civilian courts.
(g) Providing that character evidence introduced at a sentencing hearing for a person convicted of an offence on the Schedule of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 must be made on oath or via affidavit.
A link to the Bill as it makes its way through the Oireachtas can be found here:
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