Latest news with #legaldefence
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to launch guide for professionals required to report child abuse cases
Hong Kong authorities will launch a guide for professionals required to report child abuse cases by the end of the month, which will include a decision tree that can be used as a legal defence in court. An ordinance that requires 25 education, healthcare and social work professions to report suspected cases of child abuse will come into effect on January 20 next year, with offenders liable for a maximum penalty of three months in jail and a HK$50,000 (US$6,370) fine. Welfare officials said at a legislative council meeting on Monday that a guide for these professionals would be released by the end of July and would include a decision tree and supplementary analytical framework. They also affirmed that more manpower and resources would be allocated to handle the anticipated uptick in child abuse case reports, such as residential childcare services and multi-professional support teams. 'The purpose of the guide is to help mandatory reporters identify suspected cases of child abuse and lay down the basic principles for their reference,' said Wendy Chau Fung-mui, assistant director of family and child welfare. 'The guide is a supplement, but not a replacement for the professional judgment of mandatory reporters … they do not have to use the decision tree when making a report if they have relevant experience.'
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘Honest belief' of consent to sex may no longer be a defence in rape cases
An 'honest' belief that an alleged victim had consented to sex may no longer be a legal defence in rape cases if proposals being considered by the Government become law. The Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General are currently considering the proposal to significantly modify the State's consent laws. The planned reform is at advanced stage, has the backing of the Law Reform Commission and is a key part of the Government's plan to take action on consent laws. Under the proposal, an accused person could not be acquitted of rape if a court found that their belief that the alleged victim had consented was not an objectively reasonable belief. READ MORE Case law in the State indicates that an accused person could defend themselves from a rape charge by testifying that they honestly believed their accuser had consented to sex, even if that belief is not reasonable or rational. In 2016, the Supreme Court found, in the case of The People (DPP) v C O'R, that an 'honest, though unreasonable, mistake that the woman was consenting is a defence to rape'. It added that the belief must be 'genuinely held' by the accused. In 2017, the attorney general asked the Law Reform Commission to examine the issue. The 'honest belief' defence came under scrutiny as the Oireachtas was passing a 2017 law that clarified the circumstances under which a person could not legally consent to sex. These included when they were asleep, unconscious, incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, or consenting under the threat or use of force. The Law Reform Commission advised a change of the law to clarify that an accused person commits the crime of rape if he 'does not reasonably believe' the alleged victim was consenting. The Department of Justice is now progressing the planned reform with the Office of the Attorney General. It is one of a number of reforms of the way the criminal justice system handles rape and sexual assault allegations, which is a focus for Government officials in the wake of a scoping inquiry into historic abuse in schools. Last week, the Government announced a commission of inquiry into the handling of historic sexual abuse allegations in schools. Officials from a number of Government departments, who were tasked with writing a report on the recommendations of the scoping inquiry published last year, noted that the majority of survivors who detailed their experiences with the scoping inquiry 'had a negative, and in some cases, retraumatising, experience with the legal system'. [ Officials resist schools abuse redress scheme Opens in new window ] In a report published last week, the interdepartmental group added that a negative experience with the legal system 'may influence survivors' perspectives on participating in a future process such as a commission of investigation'. Survivors had called on the State to 'make the legal system more accessible and appropriate for victims of sexual crimes'.
Reuters
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Istanbul mayor's jailed lawyer denounces 'fabricated' charges
ANKARA, July 7 (Reuters) - The lawyer for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who like the mayor is in jail under an expanding crackdown on Turkey's opposition, told Reuters on Monday he faces "entirely fabricated" charges meant to criminalise the right to a legal defence. Mehmet Pehlivan, who had already been detained for a day in March, was held last month on charges of membership of an unspecified criminal organisation. A probe into the main opposition party, Imamoglu's CHP, was expanded well beyond Istanbul at the weekend, and dozens were detained. The arrest in March of Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, sparked the biggest street protests in a decade, and a sharp selloff in the lira and other Turkish assets. In written responses from prison, Pehlivan said his arrest amounted to a bid to criminalise not only legal defence but the profession of lawyers as a whole: "We are faced with a mindless judicial practice that has severed its ties with reality and truth." Pehlivan said the evidence presented against him was false and based on a purported phone call and meetings he had never held, and alleged ties to a person he had never met. He said his work for Imamoglu had been restricted to his duties as a lawyer. "For the first time in the Republic's history, the practising the law has been categorised as a crime," he wrote. "Even if this categorisation causes a result for me today, its impact is a threat to all lawyers." The government rejects opposition allegations that the probe is politicised and anti-democratic, saying the judiciary is independent. In a statement on Sunday, Erdogan's office said that members of the ruling AK Party had also been investigated and arrested in the past over similar crimes. The office did not immediately respond to Pehlivan's allegation that the charges against him were baseless and a threat to legitimate legal activity.
