Supreme Court rejects ex-teacher's claim prosecution would be unconstitutional

The Supreme Court, by a three to two majority, has rejected claims by a former school teacher it would be unconstitutional to permit his prosecution for alleged offences of gross indecency against a male pupil between 1978-80 when the boy was aged between 15 and 17 years.

The Supreme Court, by a three to two majority, has rejected claims by a former school teacher it would be unconstitutional to permit his prosecution for alleged offences of gross indecency against a male pupil between 1978-80 when the boy was aged between 15 and more than 17 years.

The case involved the juxtaposition of the modern understanding of the sexual exploitation of young people and a "notorious" law, Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, that was "a key part of a legal regime that caused so much misery to many homosexual men here" until its repeal in 1993, Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley observed.