Cabinet to approve plans to define sexual consent in law

Plans to introduce a statutory definition of consent are set to be approved by Cabinet today, The Irish Times reports.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will ask her Government colleagues to back her proposal to incorporate a legal definition of consent in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill through an amendment when the bill is debated in the Dáil on Wednesday.

She previously hinted towards the move last November.

Ireland does not currently have a statutory definition of consent, with this having instead been developed through case law.

A definition of consent was introduced in England and Wales through section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI) has called for a similar statutory definition to be introduced in Ireland.

In a 1988 report, the Law Reform Commission recommended legislation to provide that consent “means a consent freely and voluntarily given and, without in any way affecting or limiting the meaning otherwise attributable to those words, a consent is not freely and voluntarily given if it is obtained by force, threat, intimidation, deception or fraudulent means”.

This report will provide the basis for the legislative amendment.