Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008

My Lords, that is a very fair question because, obviously, it can be the other way round. I will get an answer before the evening is over, because it is intended to be gender-neutral as regards the practicalities of the law. However, the idea that there cannot be prostitution the other way is completely nonsense. I will get an answer to the noble Lord and I am grateful for the question. Part 6 contains a miscellaneous but important group of offences. It criminalises acts where the clear intention is to commit a sexual offence; for example, giving someone so-called date rape drugs. It also criminalises sex with an adult relative, and it lists other behaviours considered unacceptable; namely, exposure, voyeurism, intercourse with an animal, sexual penetration of a corpse and sexual activity in a public toilet. Part 7 makes further important provisions. It allows offences committed overseas against children to be pursued by the courts in Northern Ireland, whether or not they are offences in that other country. It also removes offences against children committed by other children or young persons from the reporting requirements of the Criminal Law Act 1967, although the Government have agreed not to commence that provision until new safeguarding legislation is enacted—we hope in 2009. As I said earlier, there was an impressive and largely supportive response to the Government’s consultation on the order. The Government set out their response to the issues raised in a statement, which contained a summary of the representations that accompanied the order when it was laid before Parliament. A further document contained a summary of the changes made to the order; for example, the Government have agreed to look further at the possible inclusion of sports coaches within the positions of trust listed in Article 28. We will ask the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure to consult sports bodies in Northern Ireland on that suggestion. We have also agreed to consult on guidance and to look at ways to engage with children and young people on the introduction of the new law. As regards the subject of the noble Lord’s amendment, however, the Government have not been persuaded to raise the age from 16 to 17 for the purposes of the offence of sexual activity with a child, more commonly referred to as the ““age of consent””. Our policy position remains that we have not seen any compelling evidence to suggest that the criminal law in Northern Ireland should continue to be at variance with the rest of the United Kingdom on this issue. Much of the argument against the move to harmonise the law has come from a basic misunderstanding of what the term ““age of consent”” means. It does not set in law the age at which it is deemed appropriate to start sexual activity. We are setting out the circumstances in which it is an offence to engage in sexual activity with a young person, even though that young person gives their consent. If that young person is 14 or 15, it remains an offence for another person to engage in sexual activity with them. We say that at 16, a young person has a right to take responsibility for their decisions and the other person should not be criminalised as a result. It is important to underline that the focus for the criminal law is not the conduct of the person below the age of consent; it is the conduct of the other person. We believe that a majority of young people from the age of 16 will make sensible decisions, supported particularly by parental guidance, as well as by sex education in schools and the work of statutory and voluntary organisations that influence young people. Sixteen is the age throughout the whole of the United Kingdom at which, with parental consent, marriage can take place. That is not affected. I understand that is the position in the Republic, even though the age of consent is 17. There is a history about why the age of 17 was chosen which other noble Lords are far better qualified to know the detail about than I. We are supported in the view we have taken by all the major children’s organisations: the NSPCC, Barnardo’s, the Children’s Law Centre and the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, by numerous representatives of social care trusts and by MLAs, including the chairman of the Assembly’s ad hoc committee that considered the order in detail. I full accept that the committee was not unanimous, but that is not the point. The chairman, Dr Stephen Farry, said in the debate in the Assembly: "““My view is that the age of consent in Northern Ireland should be set at 16 years of age and be in line with the rest of the United Kingdom. I do not believe that there is a compelling reason for Northern Ireland to be out of line with the rest of the UK””." The focus of my speech has been the main order. I shall briefly address aspects of the other order. The draft Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland Consequential Amendments) Order is, by and large, a short, technical piece that allows the main order and the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to work together in a UK context. It also amends the list of offences that attract the sex offender notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and adds the new offences to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for the purposes of sentences for public protection. The answer to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, is that the Explanatory Memorandum is seeking only to give an example. The offence is gender neutral and would apply equally to male prostitutes. I assumed that that would be the case, but sometimes the his and the her and the he and the she make it look as if it is not gender neutral, but it is. I am pleased to bring before the House this fundamental reform of the criminal law on sexual offences in Northern Ireland. I make no apology. This has been in being for a considerable number of years. We see no reason to delay the implementation of the many new offences and penalties I have spelt out while awaiting the further devolution that we fully expect to take place. Then it will be up to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The new framework of sexual offences is about better protection for all against unacceptable sexual behaviour. It will improve protection for children, young people and other vulnerable groups against sexual abuse, and it will help to tackle prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. I commend both orders to the House. Moved, That the order laid before the House on 30 April be approved. 19th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, 19th Report from the Merits Committee.—(Lord Rooker.)