Paedophile Bill Outlaws Sex Between 16 Year Olds

An emergency law aimed at preventing Irish child-sex offenders from getting out of prison has ended up criminalising sex between consenting teenagers.

While victims of child abuse and children's rights campaigners welcome the Dublin Supreme Court's decision to overturn a High Court ruling that a convicted paedophile be freed, a law that came into being late on Friday night means sex between 16-year-olds in Ireland is now technically illegal.

The Irish government admitted yesterday that its Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006 would outlaw sex between 16-year-olds.

Meanwhile the man at the centre of a controversy that brought thousands on to the streets to protest against the judicial decision to free him is back behind bars this weekend. 'Mr A', 41-year-old who plied a 12-year-girl with drink and then raped her at a house in Co. Wicklow, was re-arrested on Friday night shortly after the emergency legislation became law.

Last Tuesday he was freed on the grounds that a 1935 law on statutory rape was inconsistent with his rights under the Irish Constitution. As a result, at least seven men convicted of sex crimes against children under the same law were on the verge of being freed from prison as well.

Last night it appeared unlikely that the seven men would be appealing yesterday's Supreme Court ruling.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) warned that anyone with previous convictions under the 1935 could have their records wiped clean and their details taken off Ireland's Sex Offender Register.

Senior Garda officers admitted last week that any of those seeking to wipe their criminal records clean could travel to the UK or further abroad without the prior knowledge of foreign police forces. Under the Irish Constitution the gardai would have had no right to pass on information to other police forces about these men.

ISPCC chief executive Paul Gilligan welcomed yesterday the Irish government's eleventh hour intervention but warned of the dangers contained within the new law. 'We were delighted at the ruling of the Supreme Court and the result that the loophole in Irish law has now been plugged. There are dangers contained within the new emergency law regarding the rights of 16 year olds. Our view is that the Director of Public Prosecutions must consider each individual case that comes up especially those regarding teenagers having consensual sex.

'There is a further problem here on the issue of "reasonable grounds". This means, in reality, where a man thought a young girl was older than her real age. There is a danger that girls from 12 upwards could face rigorous examination in court, to be asked questions about the make-up they had on, the skirt they were wearing and so on. The courts are going to have to be very sensitive,' Gilligan said.

Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell has admitted that the new law will make the victims of sexual predators more fearful and reluctant. Under the new legislation the accused can claim they did not know they had sex with someone under the legal age.

Ivana Bacik, the Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, has also confirmed that the new law opens up the possibility that children will be cross-examined in courts about what they were wearing when they were abused.