Outright lie in Press Release on Spent Convictions Bill

tiredofthis

We are all used to misinformation/misdirection from the Government, but it's carrying contempt too far to tell outright lies about what is in legislation they are putting through the Dail.

If you look at the Justice website (justice.ie) you will find a Press Release (4th May) on the Spent Convictions Bill
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR12000128

This contains the statement
"Sexual offences and offences that fall to be tried by the Central Criminal Court are excluded from the purview of the Bill."

If you look at the Bill which is also on the Justice website,
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PB12000129

you find that a number of offences which are currently sex offences under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006 are not sexual offences for the purposes of the new Bill. Sex assault, indecent assault etc are not sex offences under the Bill. They are treated in the same way as burglary or theft and can become spent convictions if the offender was sentenced to less than a year in jail.

Some sex offences against children are also included. The strangest thing is that defilement of a child under 17 by a person more than 24 months older than the child is not a sex offence. Procuring or inciting the defilement of that child, conspiracy to defile that child where the offender is more than 24 months older than the child - none of those is a sexual offence.

Whatever you think about spent convictions and the rights of offenders, including sex offenders, it's totally corrupt for the Government to publish a Press Release which tells a direct lie about what is in the Bill. The newspapers have published stories based on the Press Release, so there is no debate about the issue. If they know best, let them say that.

I would love to see public debate on this issue.