Parliament is set to fast track promulgation of a law that criminalises sexual or indecent relations with a person below the age of 18 after it was enacted under Presidential Powers whose lifespan lasts for six months.
The National Assembly and Senate are set to resume sitting
next month and are set to prioritise the enactment of amendments to the
Criminal Laws (Protection of Children and Young Persons) a legal instrument
that has already taken legal effect after President Mnangagwa invoked his
powers to promulgate it.
Once enacted by Parliament, the law will form part of the
country’s legal statute.
In an interview, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said Parliament will have to prioritise the Bill once
it is gazetted when it resumes sitting.
“The reason we used Presidential Powers (Temporary
Measures) Act is that we wanted to close a gap that had been created. So we
have a window within which to pass the law through Parliament and we have a
six-month period,” said Minister Ziyambi.
Parliament is soon expected to gazette the Bill so that it
is tabled before plenary for debate and will pass with or without amendments.
A fortnight ago, President Mnangagwa invoked his powers
under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to gazette Statutory
Instrument 2 of 2024, the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Criminal
Laws (Protection of Children and Young Persons)) Regulations, 2024.
This effectively puts the age of consent to sexual
relations at 18, consistent with the Constitution which sets the majority age
at that level.
Initially the law of consent for sexual relations was set
in statute law at 16, this was raised to 18 after the Constitutional Court
ruled that the minimum age for marriage set at 18 in the Constitution also
logically applied to the age of consent, so raising that to 18.
The opportunity has been taken to include acts that a
reasonable person would see as an indecent act, and to make it clear that even
asking a person under 18 to take part in sexual or indecent acts is an offence.
The penalties are set at level 12 fines or a maximum of 10
years jail.
The regulations make it clear that sexual relations with a
person under 12 are defined as rape if the child is a girl or aggravated
indecent assault if it is a boy, where the penalties are far higher with
lengthy jail terms being the norm.
An acceptable defence for someone having sexual relations
with a person under 18 remains being able to show that the person had
reasonable grounds to believe the person was over 18, but simple appearances of
physical or sexual maturity will not be accepted.
The new law is expected to end the menace where men would
prey on young girls, particularly teenagers some of whom would be of school
going age.
If teenagers less than three years apart are involved in
sexual or indecent acts, or if it is a person under 18 and someone who is
technically an adult but less than three years older, then prosecution can be
waived.
Authorities have in the past, and can now continue doing
so, been more content to treat these breaches as needing counselling, rather
than prosecution.
However the full force of the law will be applied when an
older person wants to get involved sexually with a teenager.
But since there can be special circumstances, the
Prosecutor General retains the right to lay charges in a court even where the
age gap is less than three years.
Zimbabweans have since welcomed the gazetting of the law
which makes it an offence to initiate or have any sexual or indecent relations
with anyone under the age of 18. Herald
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