Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000

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The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It changed the age of consent for male homosexual sexual activities (including anal sex) from 18 (or for some activities, 21) to that for heterosexual and lesbian sexual activities at 16, or 17 in Northern Ireland. It also introduced the new offence of 'having sexual intercourse or engaging in any other sexual activity with a person under 18 if in a position of trust in relation to that person'.

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Legislative history

Lowering the homosexual age of consent had previously been raised on two previous occasions: In 1994 Edwina Currie, a Conservative MP proposed an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill. The measure failed narrowly, but soon returned to Parliament when Labour were swept to power in 1997.

In 1996, the European Court of Human Rights heard Morris v. the United Kingdom and Sutherland v. the United Kingdom, cases brought by Chris Morris and Euan Sutherland challenging the inequality inherent in divided ages of consent. The government stated its intention to legislate to negate the court cases, which were put on hold. Ann Keen, a Labour MP, introduced an amendment to Crime and Disorder Bill in 1998, and this was carried by a majority of 207 in the House of Commons. The amendment was then removed by the House of Lords by a majority of 168. Not wishing to lose the whole bill, the government allowed the issue to be dropped.

Later in the year, the government reintroduced the measure in what eventually became this Act. It once again sailed through the House of Commons by a majority of 183 on 25 January 1999, but was again blocked in the House of Lords after a concerted campaign by Conservative peer Baroness Young. The government once again re-introduced the measure, this time threatening to invoke the Parliament Act.

After sailing through the House of Commons and being rejected by the House of Lords once again, the government carried through its threat and on 30 November 2000, Speaker Michael Martin announced the passage of the Act. It received Royal Assent a few hours later.

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See also

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External links

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