CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1935

AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER AND BETTER PROVISION FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUNG GIRLS AND THE SUPPRESSION OF BROTHELS AND PROSTITUTION, AND FOR THOSE AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO SEXUAL OFFENCES. [28th February, 1935.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Defilement of girl under fifteen years of age.

1.—(1) Any person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl under the age of fifteen years shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable on conviction thereof to penal servitude for life or for any term not less than three years or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.

• (2) Any person who attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl under the age of fifteen years shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable, in the case of a first conviction of such misdemeanour, to penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years nor less than three years or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, in the case of a second or any subsequent conviction of such misdemeanour, to penal servitude for any term not exceeding ten years nor less than three years or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.

2 Defilement of girl between fifteen and seventeen years of age.

2.—(1) Any person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl who is of or over the age of fifteen years and under the age of seventeen years shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable, in the case of a first conviction of such misdemeanour, to penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years nor less than three years or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, in the case of a second or any subsequent conviction of such misdemeanour, to any term of penal servitude not exceeding ten years nor less than three years or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.

• (2) Any person who attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl who is of or over the age of fifteen years and under the age of seventeen years shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable, in the case of a first conviction of such misdemeanour, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, in the case of a second or any subsequent conviction of such misdemeanour, to penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years nor less than three years or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.

• (3) No prosecution for an offence which is declared by this section to be a misdemeanour shall be commenced more than twelve months after the date on which such offence is alleged to have been committed.

3 Power to convict otherwise than as indicted.

3.—If upon the trial of any indictment for rape, or any offence made felony by section 1 of this Act, the jury shall be satisfied that the defendant is guilty of an offence under section 3 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, or under either section 1 or section 2 of this Act, or of an indecent assault, but are not satisfied that the defendant is guilty of the felony charged in such indictment, or of an attempt to commit the same, then and in every such case the jury may acquit the defendant of such felony, and find him guilty of such offence as aforesaid, or of an indecent assault (as the case may be), and thereupon such defendant shall be liable to be punished in the same manner as if he had been convicted for such offence as aforesaid, or for the misdemeanour of indecent assault, as the case may be.

4 Defilement of idiots, imbeciles, and feebleminded females.

4.—(1) Any person who, in circumstances which do not amount to rape, unlawfully and carnally knows or attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any woman or girl who is an idiot, or an imbecile, or is feeble-minded shall, if the circumstances prove that such person knew at the time of such knowledge or attempt that such woman or girl was then an idiot or an imbecile or feeble-minded (as the case may be), be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.

• (2) No prosecution for an offence which is declared by this section to be a misdemeanour shall be commenced more than twelve months after the date on which such offence is alleged to have been committed.

5 Trial of certain offences summarily.

5.—(1) A Justice of the District Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily any charge of an offence which is declared by any of the foregoing sections of this Act to be a misdemeanour where the offence charged is only an attempted carnal knowledge, and the Justice is of opinion that the facts proved against the person so charged constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily, and such person (inquiry having been made of him by the Justice) does not object to being so tried.

• (2) Where an offence is tried summarily by a Justice of the District Court in exercise of the jurisdiction conferred by this section, the punishment inflicted by the Justice for such offence shall not exceed six months' imprisonment.

6 Punishment of certain offences.

6.—In lieu of section 52 (repealed by this Act) of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861, as amended by section 19 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, it is hereby enacted that whosoever shall be convicted of any indecent assault upon any female shall be liable, in the case of a first conviction of any such offence, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years, and in the case of a second or any subsequent conviction of any such offence, to penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years nor less than three years or imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.

7 Amendment of section 2 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885.

7.—Section 2 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, is hereby amended by the deletion therefrom of the words “under twenty-one years of age”, and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

8 Amendment of section 3 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885.

8.—Section 3 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, is hereby amended by the insertion therein before the word “drug” of the words “alcoholic or other intoxicant or any”, and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

9 Amendment of section 6 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885.

9.—Section 6 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, is hereby amended in the following respects, that is to say:—

• (a) by the substitution of the word “fifteen” for the word “thirteen” wherever that word occurs in the said section, and

• (b) by the substitution of the word “seventeen” for the word “sixteen” where that word firstly occurs in the said section, and

• (c) by the deletion of the proviso to the said section,

and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

10 Amendment of section 12 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885.

10.—Section 12 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, is hereby amended by the substitution of the word “twenty-one” for the word “sixteen”, and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

11 Amendment of sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Children Act, 1908.

11.—Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Children Act, 1908, are hereby amended by the substitution of the word “seventeen” for the word “sixteen” wherever that word occurs in those sections, and those sections shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

12 Amendment of the Punishment of Incest Act, 1908.

12.—The Punishment of Incest Act, 1908, is hereby amended in the following respects, that is to say:—

• (a) the word “fifteen” shall be substituted for the word “thirteen” where that word firstly occurs in the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 1, and

• (b) the reference in the said proviso to section 4 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, shall be construed as a reference to section 1 (which deals with the defilement of girls under fifteen years of age) of this Act, and

• (c) the word “seventeen” shall be substituted for the word “sixteen” where that word occurs in section 2, and the said Act shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

13 Offence of keeping a brothel.

13.—(1) In lieu of section 13 (repealed by this Act) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, it is hereby enacted that any person who—

• (a) keeps or manages or acts or assists in the management of a brothel, or

• (b) being the tenant, lessee, occupier, or person in charge of any premises, knowingly permits such premises or any part thereof to be used as a brothel or for the purposes of habitual prostitution, or

• (c) being the lessor or landlord of any premises or the agent of such lessor or landlord, lets such premises or any part thereof with the knowledge that such premises or some part thereof are or is to be used as a brothel, or is wilfully a party to the continued use of such premises or any part thereof as a brothel, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable, in the case of a first conviction of such misdemeanour, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment and, in the case of a second or any subsequent conviction of such misdemeanour, to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years nor less than three years or imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such penal servitude or imprisonment.

• (2) A Justice of the District Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily any charge of an offence which is declared by this section to be a misdemeanour where the person so charged has not previously been convicted of any such misdemeanour and such person (inquiry having been made of him by the Justice) does not object to being so tried.

• (3) Sections 5, 6, and 7 of the Disorderly Houses Act, 1751, as amended by section 7 of the Disorderly Houses Act, 1818 shall apply to prosecutions for an offence which is declared by this section to be a misdemeanour.

14 Defence of consent by person under fifteen years of age.

14.—It shall not be a defence to a charge of indecent assault upon a person under the age of fifteen years to prove that such person consented to the act alleged to constitute such indecent assault.

15 Jurisdiction to try certain offences summarily.

15.—(1) A Justice of the District Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily any charge of an offence to which this section applies where the Justice is of opinion that the facts proved against the accused constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily and the accused (inquiry having been made of him by the Justice) does not object to being so tried.

• (2) Where an offence is tried summarily by a Justice of the District Court in exercise of the jurisdiction conferred by this section, the punishment inflicted by the Justice for such offence shall not exceed six months' imprisonment.

• (3) This section applies to the following offences, that is to say:—

• (a) any offence which is declared by section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, to be a misdemeanour, where the accused person is over the age of sixteen years and the person with whom the act alleged to constitute the offence is committed is either under the age of sixteen years or is an idiot, an imbecile or a feeble-minded person, and

• (b) indecent assault against a person under the age of fifteen years.

16 Suppression of prostitution.

16.—(1) Every common prostitute who is found loitering in any street, thoroughfare, or other place and importuning or soliciting passers-by for purposes of prostitution or being otherwise offensive to passers-by shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding two pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

• (2) The Probation of Offenders Act, 1907, shall apply to offences under this section as if the words “or to the prospects of the moral reclamation of the person or persons charged” were inserted in sub-section (1) of section 1 of that Act immediately before the words “it is inexpedient to inflict any punishment.”

17 Prohibition of sale and importation of contraceptives.

17.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to sell, or expose, offer, advertise, or keep for sale or to import or attempt to import into Saorstát Eireann for sale, any contraceptive.

• (2) Any person who acts in contravention of the foregoing sub-section of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment and, in any case to forfeiture of any contraceptive in respect of which such offence was committed.

• (3) Contraceptives shall be deemed to be included among the goods enumerated and described in the Table of Prohibitions and Restrictions Inwards contained in section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, and the provisions of that Act (as amended or extended by subsequent Acts) relating to the importation of prohibited goods shall apply accordingly.

• (4) In this section the word “contraceptive” means any appliance, instrument, drug, preparation or thing, designed, prepared, or intended to prevent pregnancy resulting from sexual intercourse between human beings.

18 Public indecency.

18.—Every person who shall commit, at or near and in sight of any place along which the public habitually pass as of right or by permission, any act in such a way as to offend modesty or cause scandal or injure the morals of the community shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding one month.

19 Search of brothels.

19.—(1) If a Justice of a District Court is satisfied, by information on oath tendered by a member of the Gárda Síochána not below the rank of inspector, that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that any premises within the district court area in respect of which he is then exercising jurisdiction is a brothel, such Justice may issue a search warrant in respect of such premises.

• (2) A search warrant issued under this section shall authorise any member of the Gárda Síochána named in that behalf therein and not below the rank of inspector to enter (if need be by force) the premises specified in such warrant at any time within one month from the date of the issue of such warrant and to inspect and search the said premises and to demand of every person found in the said premises during such inspection and search his name and address.

• (3) A member of the Gárda Síochána not below the rank of inspector inspecting and searching premises under a search warrant issued under this section may be accompanied and assisted in such inspection and search by such other members of the Gárda Síochána (of whatever rank) as he may think proper.

• (4) If any person whose name and address is demanded of him under this section by a member of the Gárda Síochána fails or refuses to give to such member his name and address or gives to such member a false name or a false address, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

20 Repeals.

20.—The enactments mentioned in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the said Schedule.

21 Short title and citation.

21.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935.

• (2) The Criminal Law Amendment Acts, 1885 to 1912, and this Act may be cited together as the Criminal Law Amendment Acts, 1885, to 1935.

SCHEDULE. ENACTMENTS REPEALED