Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006
Encyclopedia
The Criminal Law Act 2006 is an Act of the Oireachtas
(Irish parliament) which was passed to plug the hole left by the Supreme Court
decision in CC v. Ireland which struck down as unconstitutional a seventy year old provision on statutory rape
. The Act provides for a defence of honest mistake where, if a defendant can satisfy the court that he or she honestly believed that the person with whom the sexual activity was committed, was of consenting age at the time (which the Act now sets as seventeen years old for both sexes). The lack of such a defence in section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935 caused the Supreme Court to declare that section void.
The Act also provides for the first time that a woman could commit statutory rape, and merged the previously separate offences which related to heterosexual and homosexual statutory rape into two offences which cover both. However as an exception to the otherwise gender neutral provisions of the Act, girls under the age of seventeen cannot be found guilty of an offence under the Act.
Text of the Act
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
(Irish parliament) which was passed to plug the hole left by the Supreme Court
Supreme Court (Ireland)
The Supreme Court of Ireland is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the High Court, judicial review over Acts of the Oireachtas . The Court also has jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the Constitution of...
decision in CC v. Ireland which struck down as unconstitutional a seventy year old provision on statutory rape
Statutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
. The Act provides for a defence of honest mistake where, if a defendant can satisfy the court that he or she honestly believed that the person with whom the sexual activity was committed, was of consenting age at the time (which the Act now sets as seventeen years old for both sexes). The lack of such a defence in section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935 caused the Supreme Court to declare that section void.
The Act also provides for the first time that a woman could commit statutory rape, and merged the previously separate offences which related to heterosexual and homosexual statutory rape into two offences which cover both. However as an exception to the otherwise gender neutral provisions of the Act, girls under the age of seventeen cannot be found guilty of an offence under the Act.
Text of the Act