Pedophiles, legal loopholes and judge blaming

During the second reading speech the Hon Carmel Tebbutt explained that in some instances convicted sex offenders are not considered to present an ongoing risk to the community. Some citizens will be aghast at the idea expressed by the Minister. That is fine. The question is one about what action citizens can take when these things come to light.

A spokesperson for Bravehearts, lobbyists and advocates for change in how society deals with child sex abuse, was cited in the news article I referred to at the outset: “the community would view the judge's decision as completely unacceptable.” The outcome of the case might be unacceptable to many but it is unlikely to be the judge’s decision at fault. Instead the decision exposes a loophole in the law. The law created by politicians and one that, in this case, the Minister has vowed to close.

Politicians rarely speak out in support of judges. I suppose politicians are happy when the community blames judges for “unpopular” decisions rather than directing disquiet towards themselves.

If citizens are concerned by the decisions of courts, instead of taking a default judge-blaming position, they could examine the issue at stake carefully and then lobby politicians to change the law. Not only would that approach increase citizen involvement in democracy it would also hold politicians accountable. After all, making and fine-tuning law and policy is what we elect politicians to do.