Almost 30 years to the day since sex between men was decriminalised in Ireland, we welcome the Department of Justice’s publication of a report detailing recommendations on the introduction of a statutory scheme to enable the disregarding of relevant criminal records that arose when it was still a crime. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission was on the Department of Justice’s working group tasked with progressing the report.
The effect of the disregard on a person who was convicted of a relevant offence shall mean that they are to be treated as not having committed the offence, been arrested, charged or prosecuted, convicted or sentenced for the offence.
The Report, created by the Working Group examining the Disregard of Convictions for Certain Qualifying Offences Related to Consensual Sexual Activity between Men, made 95 recommendations in total. These include on the promotion of public awareness of the scheme, the provision of a personalised apology and on the establishment of an independent first point of contact for applicants.
It notes that while the total number of men prosecuted and convicted for consensual sexual activity and affection with other men is unknown, it is likely that several hundred men were prosecuted and convicted during the period of criminalisation.
The report also states that,
“It is now widely recognised that this criminalisation was discriminatory, an affront to human dignity, an infringement of personal privacy and autonomy and represents an historical injustice.”
Chief Commissioner Sinéad Gibney, said
“It will seem incredible to many in Ireland today, that three decades after the decriminalisation of sex between men, eight years after the Marriage Equality referendum and five years after the All-Party motion acknowledging the harm done by criminalisation of consensual same-sex relationships, there continues to be so many in our society who carry this unjust and unjustifiable burden in their daily lives.” “In many cases, they have had to live under the alienating shadow of conviction, potentially impacting relationships and career prospects, while also reinforcing the knowledge that their own society would punish and exclude them for simply living out their sexual orientation.” “I welcome the publication of this report in bringing those affected by these laws one step closer to having the injustice they experienced by the State, disregarded. They have waited long enough and I would appeal to the Government to move forward with urgency in legislating on the report’s recommendations.”END/ For further information, please contact: Karen Joynt, IHREC M: 0851746883 Karen.Joynt@ihrec.ie Follow us on twitter @_IHREC