THOUSANDS OF paedophiles and rapists in England and Wales will be forced to wait for 15 years after their release from jail before they can apply to have their names removed from the sex offenders register, following a British Supreme Court ruling last year that the lack of a right of appeal breached their human rights.
During unusually sharp criticism of the judiciary in the House of Commons yesterday, prime minister David Cameron said he was “appalled” by the judgment and repeatedly emphasised that the British government would do only the minimum necessary to bring the law into compliance with the judges’ orders.
Responding to anger expressed by a Conservative MP, Mr Cameron said he “speaks for many people in saying how completely offensive it is, once again, to have a ruling by a court that flies in the face of common sense”, adding that the existing law had cross-party support.
“It is about time we ensured that decisions are made in this parliament rather than in the courts,” said Mr Cameron, while home secretary Theresa May said parliament must ensure that “the rights of the public come before the rights of criminals”.
The combination of the Supreme Court’s ruling and European Court of Human Rights criticism of a ban on prisoners voting has led to a decision to accelerate preparation of a British Bill of Rights designed to limit judges’ powers to interpret legislation.
The sex offenders register was established in September 1997. In October last year, 48,000 people were required to register with their local police station within 72 hours of being convicted, or cautioned.
Twenty thousand names are registered for life after receiving sentences of over 30 months.
Under the minimal changes now being planned, a police decision to register names will be open to a judicial review, but offenders will have no right of appeal once a decision to put their names on the register is confirmed. Meanwhile, they will have to tell police of any plans to travel abroad, even for a day.
Offenders living in homes with minors will have to report that to police, while those with no fixed address will have to say weekly where they live. Meanwhile, offenders will have to give their new names if they change their original ones by deed poll, or, perhaps, by employing a statutory declaration.
Openly critical of the Supreme Court, the home secretary said it had found that the existing law was a breach of offenders’ rights “to a private or family life. Those are rights, of course, that those offenders have taken away from their victims in the cruellest and most degrading manner possible.”
The case was taken by two offenders, one of whom, when aged 11, raped a six-year-old, for which he served just two years. The other served five years for indecently assaulting and causing actual bodily harm to a woman.
The home secretary is to talk to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish government to make sure offenders do not move jurisdiction. Scotland offers offenders an automatic right of appeal 15 years after conviction, but England and Wales, Ms May said, would do so only 15 years after release.
