…ceremony to be held at State House
President Bharrat Jagdeo will on Monday sign into law the long awaited Sexual Offences Bill at a ceremony slated for State House.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon during his post Cabinet press briefing yesterday had indicated that the assenting ceremony would have happened today but a subsequent statement from Office of the President indicated that the date had been changed due to inclement weather.
Dr Luncheon at his briefing had stressed that the ceremony is in recognition of the importance of the legislation that the administration will bring into being.
According to Luncheon, Cabinet is convinced that the legislation is comprehensive enough to deal with the sexual misconduct so prevalent in society. It aims to prevent, penalize and also provide for therapy for victims and abusers.
The Bill was approved unanimously last month in the House on a rare occasion where both sides of the aisle were in loud praise. At that time, Human Services and Social Security Minister, Priya Manickchand, who was a key player in having the Bill become a reality, told the members of the House that for there to be success as it relates to the provisions of the Bill, the Members of the House had to be instrumental in effecting attitudinal changes.
The Minister called on the members of the house to take it upon themselves to select a section of the Bill and embark on an education campaign as it relates to the provision of the laws.
The Bill broadens the definition of rape as well as increases significantly its penalties.
It also removes restitution of conjugal rights thus making it possible for charges to be laid against a husband for raping his wife.
Exposing children to pornography will also attract stiff penalties to perpetrators under the new law.
As has been observed over the years where persons have been abusing a position of trust to violate children, the new law takes cognizance of this and provides for penalties.
Historically also, the Bill provides for Paper Committals wherein when a person is charged with an offence under this Act, there shall be no oral preliminary inquiry. Instead, a paper committal shall be held in accordance with the procedure set out.
Also under the new law all reports will have to be mandatorily investigated.
The Sexual Offences Bill states that where an offence under the Act is reported to the police, the police shall, in every case, record the report and conduct an investigation.
It also stipulates that within three months of a complaint being made under subsection a charge shall be laid in respect of the report or the file relating to the report and investigation shall be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
The new law states that failure to comply with subsection will constitute neglect of duty by the Investigating Rank and the Investigating Rank shall be liable to answer disciplinary charges in accordance with the Police (Discipline) Act.
All reforms in the law will benefit child victims as well as adults, but some tackle the particular problems of child victims and child witnesses among others.
Manickchand recently told this newspaper that she is happy that the Bill is now closer to being implemented.
The Minister also conveyed her appreciation to all who have contributed to the birth of and gestation of the legislation both at the committee level as well as during the Stamp it out campaign.
Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/05/21/president-to-assent-to-sexual-offences-bill-monday/