Protection of child sex victims under review

THE Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection will investigate the possibility that the Constitution now provides better protection to a person accused of child abuse rather than the victim.

Fianna Fáil TD Peter Power, the chairman of the committee, said at its inaugural meeting yesterday that the Supreme Court decision striking down the statutory rape law had “unleashed a broad range of complex and fundamental issues”.

In May, the court struck down the law which made it an automatic offence to have sex with a girl under 15, saying it was unconstitutional because it did not allow for a defence of honest mistake about the victim’s age.

Mr Power said that law had provided an “absolute protection” for children which no longer existed in the wake of the decision.

The committee, established to examine the issues raised by that judgement, now had to consider a series of crucial questions, he said.

“One of our key tasks is to decide whether the Supreme Court has swung that constitutional protection too much in favour of the accused and in a manner not in accordance with society’s current views on child protection,” he said.

“To put it at its simplest: does the Constitution, as now interpreted, provide better protection to the abuser or to the child?”

The committee had to answer that and decide whether a change in the Constitution was required to restore the absolute protection for children, he indicated. Any such change would require the approval of the electorate in a referendum.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Children’s Minister Brian Lenihan — both ex-officio members of the committee — said a referendum would take place if deemed necessary.

Mr McDowell rejected allegations by another committee member, Labour justice spokesman Brendan Howlin, that the Government had floated the idea of a referendum to distract from its “hopelessly inadequate initial response” to the Supreme Court decision.

Both Mr Howlin and his Fine Gael counterpart, Jim O’Keeffe, also criticised the emergency legislation the Government introduced to deal with the issue, saying it was inherently flawed.

They said the committee would have to review that legislation as well as other issues on its agenda.

The committee has five specific terms of reference. It must consider the implications of the Supreme Court judgement, review the criminal law relating to sexual offences against children, consider whether the Constitution should be changed, examine the issues surrounding the age of consent, and consider the best way for children’s evidence to be heard in abuse cases.

It has 13 members, from across the political spectrum. The presence of two ministers on the committee — appointed because of the relevance of their portfolios — indicated the matter’s gravity, Mr Power said. Ministers do not usually sit on Oireachtas committees.

The committee will sit again next Tuesday. It will advertise shortly in the national press for written submissions from experts and members of the public.