Foreign paedophiles could be banned from entering Gibraltar under new draft legislation published yesterday.
The Crimes Bill consolidates criminal offences into one legislative text that modernises and streamlines the existing framework, toughening up sentences and introducing new offences and powers to close gaps.
One of those new powers will enable the government to apply to the Magistrates Court for an “entry prohibition order” to stop non-Gibraltarian child sex offenders from entering Gibraltar.
“We don’t want these people here in Gibraltar but at the moment we can’t prevent them from coming,” Justice Minister Daniel Feetham said.
Police here are alerted through Interpol on the extremely rare occasions when convicted paedophiles are known to be heading to the area, but while efforts are made to keep tabs on them the system is not failsafe.
The new power would enable officials to carry out a risk assessment on each individual case and, if necessary, apply to the court to bar entry.
“We try and keep our eyes focused on such people whilst they’re in Gibraltar but it struck me that we needed a better, more streamlined procedure and protection, and the power to bar somebody from coming to Gibraltar if we felt that they were a danger,” Mr Feetham said.
“Our concern is to protect children here in Gibraltar from foreign paedophiles and I think the vast majority of the community will accept that this is the correct decision.”
While the UK keeps a register of sexual offenders and alerts other countries when they are travelling, many EU jurisdictions – including Spain - do not keep a register.
Mr Feetham said the Tripartite Forum, which is already considering law enforcement and judicial cooperation, would look closely at this specific issue to assess the possibility of establishing a framework for Gibraltar, the UK and Spain to share information on child sex offenders.
In any event, this is not a serious problem here and the presence of known convicted paedophiles on the Rock is extremely rare.
One veteran policeman said he knew of only two cases during his many years as an officer.
Mr Feetham was speaking to reporters during a press conference at which he presented the new Bill, a massive text that runs to 588 pages and is a key element of a wider reform of Gibraltar’s criminal legislation.
The Bill reflects and draws from current UK, European and international law.
“The aim of the Crimes Bill is not only to consolidate all our criminal offences but to modernise them, to add to them and to also revise sentences,” Mr Feetham said.
“It provides a comprehensive code of all our criminal offences in Gibraltar, save for those that relate to traffic and financial services.”
“It will provide Gibraltar with a modern, fair and balanced regime which seeks to deter criminality where it is contemplated, punish it when it occurs and rehabilitate an offender who has paid his or her debt to society.”
The Bill revises sentences that have in some cases remained static for five decades.
Under current legislation, for example, indecent assault on a child is punishable by a maximum of two years in prison. Under the new law, the maximum will be lifted to 14 years.
The Bill is completely gender neutral and makes no distinction between men, women or sexual orientation. The protection it affords – and the punishment - is thus equal for everyone.
Mr Feetham noted that the recent debate over the gay age of consent did not reflect the fact that existing law discriminates against heterosexual males in many cases.
While the law protects teenage girls from adult men, it is not a crime for an adult woman to have sex with a boy aged over 14.
The Crimes Bill addresses that discrimination.
“There is no over-focus, as is the current position, on protecting girls against men and the Bill affords the same protection to boys against predatory men and women,” Mr Feetham said.
“We’ve treated boys and girls, men and women, in exactly the same way.”
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