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| 注册日期：2002-04-15 |
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６月３日，还是美联社，
House of Lords to Amend Sex Offense Bill
By ED JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
June 2, 2003, 10:02 PM EDT
LONDON -- The House of Lords voted Monday to amend a government bill on sexual offenses to allow rape suspects to remain anonymous until proven guilty, but the government said it would try to overturn the decision.
Peers sitting in Parliament's unelected upper chamber said innocent people's lives had been ruined by erroneous allegations of rape and voted by 109 to 105 to amend the Sexual Offenses Bill.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government said, however, that it would seek to overturn the amendment when the bill returns to the lower chamber, the House of Commons.
"It remains a principle of our criminal justice system that it is open and transparent," said government minister Lord Falconer.
"We would risk giving out mixed messages, especially within the context of needing to do more for victims and witnesses," he added.
Falconer told peers that defendants had been granted anonymity in 1976, although the move was later repealed. Judges had advised the government that other rape victims would not come forward to police if the accused remained anonymous.
"We think that the law presently strikes a proper balance between the principle of open justice ... and the very important need to ensure the victims of sexual offenses are encouraged to report such crimes," he added.
The amendment was proposed by independent peer Lord Ackner, a former appeal court judge, during a debate on the bill, which seeks to update legislation on sexual offenses.
He said defendants should be given the same right to anonymity as alleged rape victims and cited the case of a doctor who was arrested in front of his family but subsequently had all charges against him withdrawn.
Baroness Blatch, a member of the main opposition Conservative Party, supported the amendment and said the publicity surrounding rape cases could drive a defendant to suicide.
"I can't think of anything more dreadful than someone who is completely innocent and is vexatiously charged, having to live through the kind of publicity that goes with that," she said.
The Home Office also opposed the amendment.
"We do not believe there is any justification for those charged with sexual offenses to be singled out for special protection while other defendants including those accused of murder could be identified," it said in a statement.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
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long arm of coincidence here~
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2003-06-03 11:38:14
