Courts / Ireland / Report

Man fails in bid to stop prosecution by arguing 115 year old law criminalises certain homosexual activity

Summary

A man, whose identity cannot be published, was charged with seven counts of gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 for alleged sexual activity with a teenage boy between 1978 and 1980 while he was in a position of authority. The alleged acts included buggery, oral sex and the boy being required to masturbate the man. His lawyers sought to halt the trial on the grounds of delay and on the claim that Section 11 was incompatible with the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The High Court rejected the reliefs, and the Court of Appeal reserved judgment. On appeal, Mr Justice George Birmingham dismissed the appeal, stating that the conduct alleged was illegal both at the time and today, and that the defendant had no standing to challenge the constitutionality of the offence.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Man fails in bid to stop prosecution by arguing 115 year old law criminalises certain homosexual activity. Charges or matters: seven counts of gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 alleged to have been committed against a teenaged boy on dates between 1978 and 1980 while he was in a position of authority. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• May 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
• 1978 and 1980 Incident
• 2017-02-07 Publication

Why: Dismissing his appeal today, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the man had sought to render himself immune from prosecution largely because a statute drafted 115 years ago criminalises certain conduct contemporary society would not regard as being properly the concern of the criminal law. Prosecution account reported by CNI

Case subjects

Places mentioned

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Stage Appeal

Read the original CNI report