WEB SYLLABUS
Author
Institution
THE SUPREME COURT DECISION
Table of Contents
3
Defences against sexual offences
The sexual offences act
Course description
The course is all about the law and what it stands for about sexual offence. It is a crime to involve oneself in criminal activities that infringe the law (Carmell v. Texas, 2000). The law provides that the liberties of the citizens must be protected. Children and women must be protected from people whose only interest is to satisfy their selfish ends. Sexual desires must be controlled. Human beings must treat other human beings with respect (Weare 2020).
Fig 1. The Hammer
Objective
By the end of this course, the learner should have a clearer understanding of a sexual offence and what it entails. It will also avail of the available defences in case one feels a miscarriage of justice (Juyal 2917 p. 881). Another critical factor is the understanding that criminal offence has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Anything less than this leaves the judicial officers presiding over this case to be vulnerable (Venkatesulu and Khalid 2018 p. 93).
Course content
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, many students have been at home. These long periods sent at home without any meaningful engagement have brought a lot of challenges in managing this vulnerable group. In developed nations, many young learners have technological items to keep them engaged, such as the web series, Netflix movies, Play station 4 (PS4), and Play station 5 (PS5). The children from low backgrounds have no access to these gadgets. But even as the children browse online, they may fall prey to sex pests and predators whose only agenda is to exploit them sexually.
In its wisdom, the parliament realized that it was necessary to have a law that seeks to protect these vulnerable groups of people (Ost 2004 188). The sexual offences act includes criminal activities such as defilement of minors, rape, and indecent acts (Thanigaivel 2017 p. 12).
Image of one person trying to grab another by force
The law provides that children below the legal age of 18 should not engage in sexual behaviour with adults or among themselves. The law provides that in case two children are found to be engaging in sexual activity. They may have to be put under guidance and counselling by a counsellor provided by the probation officers (Harveen 2020).
Right of the accused person
The accused person has the rights. Criminal offences acts need to be proven “beyond any reasonable doubt” (Dockray 2017). The prosecution must ensure that the case is watertight. There may be a medical report requirement to prove that there were actual penetration and lacerations. The accused person has a right to appeal to a higher court within 14 days (Harp 2020).
Fig 2. Image of an accused person behind bars
Defences against sexual offences
The law also provides that one can defend oneself from a case of defilement if there is adequate proof that the other person behaves like an adult or that he or she made an attempt to find out if the other party was actually above the legal age of 18 (Jowett 2017 310).
Bond terms
The accused person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. The accused person may be given a bond, which may grant him the freedom to continue with regular business as the court case continues (Brewis and Storey 2020). The accused person must ensure that they comply with the bond terms, which include not interfering with the witnesses and attending court proceedings when they fall due (Bhamjee, Suhayfa, Essack, and Ann 2016 p. 257).
References
Bhamjee, Suhayfa, Zaynab Essack, and Ann Elaine Strode. “Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act dealing with consensual underage sex: Implications for doctors and researchers.” South African Medical Journal 106.3 (2016): 256-259.
Brewis, Brian, and Tony Storey. “It’s Just Not Cricket: The Meaning of ‘Reasonable Belief in Consent’Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Admissibility of Bad Character Evidence Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003: R v Hepburn [2020] EWCA Crim 820.” The Journal of Criminal Law (2020): 0022018320965376.
Carmell v. Texas, 529 U.S. 513, 120 S. Ct. 1620, 146 L. Ed. 2d 577 (2000).
Dockray, Keith. Politics, Society and Homosexuality in Post-War Britain: The Sexual Offences Act of 1967 and Its Significance. Fonthill Media, 2017.
Harp W. (2020); Teaching Justice and Reproducing Justice, Retrieved from; https://reprojusticesyllabi.wordpress.com/whitney/, Accessed on 15- 11- 2020.
Harveen, Bhardwaj. “Child Victims and Deliverance of Justice special reference to Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 amended wef 03 02 2013.” (2020).
https://www.cps.gov.uk/west-midlands/news/child-sex-offender-jailed-18-years
https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/550aa0111e.pdf‘
https://www.unicef.org/lac/media/4701/file/PDF%20Sexual%20Offences%20Act.pdf
Jowett, Adam. “Representing the history of LGBT rights: political rhetoric surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967.” Psychology & Sexuality 8.4 (2017): 306-317.
Juyal, Deepak, et al. “Lack of special courts under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act: A structural deficit.” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 6.4 (2017): 881.
Ost, Suzanne. “Getting to grips with sexual grooming? The new offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.” Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 26.2 (2004): 147-159.
Thanigaivel, L. “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso Act).” Indian Social Science Journal 6.2 (2017): 9-18.
Venkatesh, B., and M. Abdul Khalid. “Study of Cases booked under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act in Chittoor.” Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology 13.4 (2019): 91-96.
Weare, Siobhan. “The Penetrative Offence in Section 4 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003: Offenders, Victims, and Outcomes After Detection.” The British Journal of Criminology (2020).