Good, but not enough

The Cabinet on Sunday endorsed a new version of the Penal Code containing provisions that “would curb crime and enforce” the state’s authority.

An important amendment in the Penal Code concerns the controversial Article 308, according to which sex offenders were allowed to escape punishment if they married their victims.

Now the clause is cancelled for victims above 18 years of age, but, lo and behold, is maintained for victims over 15 and below 18 if the sexual activity is “consensual”.

No amount of justification — and the family wrath is constantly brought forward, proving that the application of the law is deficient, for, were it applied properly, it would act as a deterrent to families that decide to take the law into their hands — can convince someone that the provision is fair.

A minor is a child who may not be fully capable of weighing the consequences of his/her acts.

The society, the state, has an obligation to protect its children and ensure justice to victims.

The law is the law and it cannot be left to a child to decide, especially in such a serious case.

The exemption from punishment stipulated in the “amended” version of the notorious article presumes that the consent of a minor is acceptable and therefore legal.

In most countries’ jurisprudence, the rule of thumb is that the consent of a minor has no legal effect.

A young person can be exploited by deceit or soft intimation to perform illicit activities, including engaging in sexual acts. As such, the state has the obligation to apply the law.

This is a loophole that the new legislation has failed to take full account of.

Most civilised countries consider sexual activities with a minor tantamount to statutory rape; our new penal code does not seem to reflect this widely accepted norm.

To be sure, the amendments have many positive features, including stiffening punishment for attacks on public servants, doctors and teachers, for car thieves, and violators of all sorts.

Introducing community service as a form of punishment for minor offences instead of jail sentences is also a big step forward for the national criminal justice system.

All in all, the amendments show that the government remains open-minded about new ideas on how to administer justice.

Yet, the law must be respected by all, applied evenly to all and supersede any other “authority”. Only when that is the case can a country consider itself part of the civilised community of nations.