Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It changed the age of consent for male homosexual sexual activities (including anal sex) from 18 (or for some activities, 21) to that for heterosexual and lesbian sexual activities at 16, or 17 in Northern Ireland. It also introduced the new offence of 'having sexual intercourse or engaging in any other sexual activity with a person under 18 if in a position of trust in relation to that person'.

Legislative history

Lowering the homosexual age of consent had been proposed on two previous occasions: In 1994 Edwina Currie, a Conservative MP proposed an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill. The measure failed narrowly and MPs voted instead to adopt an amendment that reduced the age of consent to 18. The issue soon returned to Parliament when Labour were swept to power in 1997.

In 1996, the European Court of Human Rights heard "Morris v. The United Kingdom" and " Sutherland v. the United Kingdom", cases brought by Chris Morris and Euan Sutherland challenging the inequality inherent in divided ages of consent. The government stated its intention to legislate to negate the court cases, which were put on hold.

Ann Keen, a Labour MP, introduced an amendment to Crime and Disorder Bill in 1998, and this was carried by a majority of 207 in the House of Commons. [cite web|url=http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=1998-06-22&number=311|title=Crime and Disorder Bill - Reduce age of consent for homosexual acts to 16|date=22 June 1998|publisher=Public Whip] The amendment was then removed by the House of Lords by a majority of 168. Not wishing to lose the whole bill, the government allowed the issue to be dropped.

Later in the year, the government reintroduced the measure in what eventually became this Act. It once again sailed through the House of Commons by a majority of 183 on 25 January 1999, but was again blocked in the House of Lords after a concerted campaign by Conservative peer Baroness Young. The government once again re-introduced the measure, this time threatening to invoke the Parliament Act.

After the bill once again sailed through the House of Commons before being rejected by the House of Lords, the government carried through its threat and on 30 November 2000, Speaker Michael Martin announced the passage of the Act. It received Royal Assent a few hours later.

This Act was effectively superseded in England and Wales by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which repealed most of its provisions as they applied to England and Wales. The new Act which consolidated most previous sexual offences legislation maintained the decriminalisation that had been achieved in this Act.

This fact became significant in the wake of passage of the Hunting Act 2004 which was also passed using the Parliament Acts. The passage of that Act was challenged in court on the basis that the Parliament Act 1949 itself had been unlawfully passed. If the latter point were true, then the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 would also be invalid, though the point would be moot since the provisions had been consolidated in legislation not passed under the Parliament Acts. The challenge to the Hunting Act was ultimately unsuccessful.

ee also

*Gay rights in the United Kingdom

References

External links

*UK-SLD|1471128
* [http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000044.htm Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000]
* [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199900/ldbills/039/en/00039x--.htm Explanatory notes to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2000]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1045383.stm Q and A: The age of consent] (BBC News, 29 November, 2000)
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=1998-06-22&number=311 Commons Vote on amendment to Crime and Disorder Bill 1998]

* [http://www.stonewall.org.uk/information_bank/criminal_law/69.asp Sexual Offences] from Stonewall, including briefings on the bills in 1998, 1999 and 2000
* [http://www.christian.org.uk/html-publications/protectgirls.htm Why the Parliament Acts should not be used on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill] (The Christian Institute, 2000)