I thank Senators Power and Zappone for raising this matter. As the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, has said, he extends his apologies that he is unable to be present, therefore I speak on his behalf.
Before commenting on Sweden's legislative model which criminalises the purchase of sexual services I wish to outline the legislative measures in place to tackle the phenomena of human trafficking and organised prostitution. Ireland has strong legislation to combat the scourge of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 gave effect to Ireland's obligations in various international instruments to criminalise human trafficking. The trafficking of persons for sexual exploitation, including prostitution, is a criminal offence and those convicted of such trafficking are liable to life imprisonment. In addition, it is an offence under the legislation for any person to knowingly solicit or importune a trafficked person, in any place, for the purpose of prostitution.
In the case of prostitution legislation, there are a number of offences directly aimed at protecting prostitutes from exploitation. Under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993, it is an offence to organise prostitution, coerce or compel a person to be a prostitute, knowingly live off the earnings of a prostitute, or keep or manage a brothel. In addition, the solicitation offence in the legislation is targeted at buyers, sellers and third parties, such as pimps. Buyers as well as sellers are liable to prosecution and the same penalties apply.
The 1993 Act, as amended, provides that a person who solicits or importunes a child — whether or not for the purposes of prostitution — to commit an act which would constitute carnal knowledge or sexual assault is guilty of an offence. Moreover, in addition to being charged with such solicitation, a person who engages in a sexual act with the child could be charged with serious offences under sexual offences legislation. In these circumstances, consent to the sexual act is not a defence. Strong as the law is, there is always room for improvement and the law on prostitution is being reviewed with a view to enhancing the protection of vulnerable persons.
I should add that the law is being enforced. An Garda Síochána continually targets the individuals and criminal groups involved in prostitution and related activities. A number of individuals and criminal groups have been identified, arrested, prosecuted and convicted. The Garda carries out targeted operations to address crime in regard to prostitution, and these often encompass situations where it is suspected that women and girls have been trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. This includes monitoring of websites associated with the advertising of prostitution, targeting the activities of criminal groups involved in organised prostitution, brothel keeping and money laundering offences. Given the involvement of organised crime gangs, such operations may be supported by specialist assistance provided by units such as the Criminal Assets Bureau the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.
As part of the review I mentioned earlier, the Minister announced in October that he would be arranging a consultation process on the future direction of prostitution legislation. A detailed discussion document to facilitate the consultation process is being prepared. It will be appreciated that the discussion document, if it is to fully inform the public, needs to be prepared carefully. It is expected that the document will be ready in the coming weeks.
The Senators have asked for clarification as to whether it is the Government's intention to change Ireland's laws on prostitution to bring them into line with the Swedish approach, as advocated by the Turn off the Red Light coalition. The Government has not made any decision in this matter. When the review, including public consultation, is concluded, the Minister will bring any legislative proposals to Government in the normal way.
While no decisions have been taken with regard to legislative proposals, it is important to point out, as was already indicated in the Seanad debate last October, that any proposal to criminalise the purchase of sex within our legal framework raises complex issues. A provision in the substantially different constitutional framework of one jurisdiction cannot be simply transposed into another jurisdiction's constitutional and legal framework.
The Minister does not wish to appear to be dismissing the Swedish model out of hand. All options will be considered but it is important to mention that there are issues which require in-depth examination. The Swedish offence of purchasing sexual services would appear to be a strict liability offence. There are difficulties in this jurisdiction in establishing offences of strict and absolute liability arising from the Supreme Court decision in the CC case. If the Swedish approach were adopted here, one party only to a two-way transaction between consenting adults would be guilty of an offence. The buyer only would be culpable and subject to penalty, with all that entails. The buyer would have no defence in law and the seller would not commit any offence in respect of the receipt of a consideration for sexual services. Criminalising one party only in this manner, were it not clearly justifiable on objective grounds, could be open to constitutional challenge.
There would obviously be concerns too, at criminalising the sale of sex by exploited persons. In addition to legal concerns, there are different and genuinely held views on this matter. The Minister does not believe that the introduction of a Swedish style ban could be advanced here without a considered public debate.
This is an issue which affects individuals and communities. It is also a societal issue. Public debate should be open to the widest possible audience and the Minister wants to ensure that everyone who wishes to make a contribution to this important debate is given the opportunity to do so. That is the reason the Minister has decided on a consultation process before charting the way ahead.
I would like to thank the Senators for raising this issue today. The Minister would like to reiterate that everything that can reasonably be done to combat prostitution will be done, and he looks forward to the outcome of the consultation process, which is expected to get under way shortly.
