Pressure on Cowen to hold referendum on children’s rights

PRESSURE mounted on Tánaiste Brian Cowen yesterday to bring forward the proposed referendum on children’s rights.

In the Dáil, Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton pressed the Tánaiste to act, but Mr Cowen said the constitutional amendment was still being considered by an all-party committee.

The pair clashed in a discussion on the Mr K case, where a 27-year-old man became the first person in the state to be found not guilty of sexual assault because of the legal defence of honest mistake.

Yesterday, this case also saw the Rape Crisis Network Ireland point the finger at ombudsman for children Emily Logan for inconsistency on the issue of strict liability.

Mr Bruton pressed the Government to restore strict liability and said child protection laws needed an urgent referendum.

In response, Mr Cowen said the government policy would be guided by the all-party committee investigating the issues in need of reform.

Labour’s Brendan Howlin also called for action. He reiterated the party’s position that a referendum to address the unlawful carnal knowledge legislation should not be delayed by the wider debate on the need to enshrine the rights of the child in the constitution.

However, both Barnardos and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children reiterated their opposition to dividing the proposed referendum and holding a referendum specifically on the issue of statutory rape.

Barnardos said the wider rights of the child would be better addressed in a comprehensive children’s rights’ referendum.

Separately, the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI) asked the Ombudsman for Children to account for her position on the issue of strict liability.

“[Ms Logan] has issued a statement reiterating all previous public statements as regards the question of strict liability. Yet there is a lack of clarity.

“She appears to support it in the submission to the Joint Committee on Child Protection in August 2006, appears to oppose it in her submission to the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children in February 2008, but then appears to concede that she supports the concept in her oral hearing to the same Committee on February 13, 2008,” said the RCNI.

Ms Logan’s office said she remains opposed to calls for strict liability as they would criminalise teenagers if they had sex with each other before the age of consent.