Consent: Looking at legislative change

"Rape is described as not only the second most important offence on our statute books but a violation of one's constitutional rights and yet the conviction rates are incredibly low."

Per the Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland Report 2007, only 7% of reported rape cases secures a conviction. Rape is described as not only the second most important offence on our statute books but a violation of one's constitutional rights and yet the conviction rates are incredibly low.

The law of rape is governed by section 2(1) of the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981. This provision outlines that a man has committed rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman who at the time of the intercourse does not consent to it. However, the Act does not go on to detail as to what constitutes as consent. Currently, consent is not defined in statute. Instead, it is defined in case law.

This lack of legislation receives some blame for the low conviction rates and there have been calls to reform it. Motley spoke to Dr Catherine O'Sullivan, a professor in the UCC Law School to explain why this is so.

The benefit of having a statutory definition, according to Dr O'Sullivan is down to "The statement it is making and the power it might have in the jury room." Currently, there's a lot of discretion given to jurors in terms of how they're interpreting what the legal principles are that the judge sets out for them.

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