Evolution of sex offender registration laws across countries

¶ … Countries Laws Legislation Governing Sex Offenders

Sex Offenders

There was a very restricted definition of sexual damages caused, till the year 1960. Only complete rape and anal sex were considered offensive. This limitation in definition was the only reason that a lot of sufferers were not allowed to register the crime committed and convict the guilty. After 1960 and till present, a lot of changes have been done in the law. At present, sexual misconduct signifies a broader concept and has a wider definition. Furthermore, it essentially means attempt and complete rape and any kind of blameworthy sexual conduct. Moreover, sex offense includes any kind of sexual misconduct committed against a child and an indecent sexual behavior towards a single person, in front of a public (Mackey & Levan, 2013). Any person who is involved in any such crime mentioned above is considered as sex offender. There is an increase in reporting of these crimes over two decades. With a sex offense law passed in the United States in 1994, there were 18 more countries which followed the league. (Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014).

Proceedings of sex assault registration in various countries

Australia

There is a central authority which takes care of sexual offense registration in the eight Australian states and territories. This authority operates under the name of Australian National Child Offender System, and is into existence since the year 2004. The present institution in-charge of this leading this registration is CrimTrac. Each of the eight states has a system of maintaining an individual list of sexual offenders. If any state needs to exchange information amongst themselves, then that is provided for in the law. Even the Australian government has full access to all the reports of all eight states and territories. Each and every state, however, follows their individual system of crime registration. A victim is directed to that particular state where her crime can be reported accurately under the rules defined in that particular state/territory. States present in Western Australia have designed a website that takes care of sex offenders (Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014). Nevertheless, there are still a few loopholes in the system. For instance, Australia has no national website to track and report such cases and also, the country lacks any kind of national level system through which public could be intimated about such acts (James Vess, et al., 2011).

Canada

The law that was passes in 2014 in U.S. was kind of a benchmark all Canadian states are trying to follow it. They all have their own laws to tackle sex offenders. Ontario is one state that works independently as well as in co-ordination with national law to register sex offenders. It started operating independently in 2001. The range of sex offense registered in Canada is huge and the punishment can be anything from life imprisonment to death penalty. Even if a crime happens on Canadian soil, without the person being a Canadian, the person is supposed to register the crime. However, Canada still lacks on a public registry applicable nationally. Two Canadian states, Alberta and Manitoba have public registry websites, but both websites function at a basic level (Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014).

France

There are a few crimes which are worth reporting in France. A few examples are any kind of sexual assault, any kind of corrupt work done by a person below age of 15 and offenses that are grave by the court or prosecutor. The French registration law was passed in the year 2004 and came into actual practice in 2005. There have been however certain rules for registering sexual offences; for instance an offence can be reported till 10 and 20 years depending on the severity of the crime committed. Moreover, a revision every 6 months or 12 months is mandatory and any kind of changes in address has to be informed within 15 days of the change. There are no provisions to let the registration out to public or any kind of website to support the same. If any person living outside France at the time of committing the sexual crime, will need to report it in France, when he returns. A landmark case, which took place in 2009 between Gardel and France, discussed the issue of registration and it was decided that the present law did not infringe the Human Rights values put forward by the European Convention (Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014)

UK

UK enacted sex offender registration law in 1997 and all offenders falling under this have been required to report all their details and updates to the local police. Other countries and states, which follow different set of rules for registration and updation are Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales. Apart from all these laws there are four additional laws, civil orders, which give added protection to the local public. All kinds of sex offenses are punishable in the UK, and the offender can be punished from 2 years in jail to life, depending on the sexual crime committed. In the UK too, there is still no national website for public to see. In case of any change in location or name or any other information, the convicted offender is supposed to submit and update the local police within 3 days of the change (Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014).

US

America is the pioneer behind passing the law that takes care of registration of sex offenders. All the states in the U.S. have their registries and also there is a national registry website for common public. Apart from all the states, the rules are also followed in District of Columbia, 4 principled U.S. territories and 70 recognized Indian tribes. If the public needs any kind of information related to law enforcement then they can look at the national website, which has all state records. The punishment duration of a sexual offense can range anything from 15 years to life imprisonment. Apart from that the offender might also be called in for quarterly, semi-annually and yearly checks (Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014).

South Korea

South Korea is very active in reporting sex offenses and has a proper public registry system in place to register and notify any kind of crime. All convicted criminals are required to be registered in this website. Anyone can avail the information on any sexual offender from this website, till that offender is in prison for that particular crime. There is a notification system for public where there is database present for all criminals for about 5 to 10 years, depending upon the crime committed. Sex offence also includes any kind of harassment done on a child. Duration and frequency of punishment includes from 3 years to life. Lastly, it is mandatory that the offender is registered for up to 20 years for the crime committed and should notify any kind of changes within 30 days (By Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems, 2014).

Comparing and contrasting U.S. laws with other countries

There are a lot of similarities between sex offender registry of United States and United Kingdom. Objective of the law in these countries is protection of victims and public, especially children, from any kind of sex offense. Registries demand that the offender submit his fingerprints, photographs, DNA samples, as well as other basic information. The offenders are supposed to report to registry till the time they serve imprisonment and in case of non-compliance, the offenders might serve additional time (Griffin & Blacker, 2010).

A list of other countries including South Korea, Canada, France, Australia and United Kingdom have adopted sex offense registration, but then they take less time in registration process as compared to United States. Also the countries mentioned in list do not have any rule regarding residency. Also, except South Korea no other country has a system in place for community notification. They all prefer records kept with the local police department. The process of offense registration is similar in UK and U.S. But the way offenses are told to common public is very different. For instance, the difference is that in the case of UK, there is no system of sharing any kind of information with general public. However, U.S. is always trying to be more open to its public with the help of improvements in sex registration website, unlike UK.

Factors affecting sex offender laws

Sexual offenses are those crimes that provoke strong reactions both by the legal fraternity and also by common public. Common public also gives very harsh negative reactions when any sexual crime is committed. There are, however, a number of factors that trigger this form of crime to continue to not only exist but also increase in ratio. The factors are no societal support, questionable upbringing, lack of self-control and problems with continued supervision. When these factors are understood properly, then only a proper check is possible on such criminals and crimes. According to Corabian and Hogan (2012) these sexual offenders though spend a lot of time in jail but they do become a part of society eventually. A truly fearless society can only be achieved when these sex offenders lead a peaceful and guilt free life after committing the worst crime. When such criminals take on life that is free from any kind of wrong doings then only it will serve the best interest of society (Corabian & Hogan, 2012).