Pope apologises for abuse by priests

The BBC reports on the apology issued by Pope Benedict XVI to victims of child sex abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland.  He acknowledged the sense of betrayal in the Church felt by victims and their families.

However there are now an increasing number of complaints of abuse from other parts of Europe. Thus far the United States, the Republic of Ireland and the UK have seen a number of criminal prosecutions against Catholic priests and civil actions against the church. 

The German Catholic Church is now dealing with reports of physical and sexual abuse. A number of victims have  come forward in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Poland.

Europe outside the UK and Eire, seems to have been less affected by institutional abuse (i.e. children’s homes) or abuse by clergy. Christian Wolmar in his book “Forgotten Children” which is about the emerging child abuse scandal in children’s homes, postulates the theory that the English attitude towards children has never been entirely healthy.

However the writer thinks that there may be another explanation. Many of the civil claims against institutions that we see, follow on from criminal prosecutions. There is no limitation law in relation to criminal prosecution of paedophiles in England and Wales, although it is open to the defence to argue that the circumstances are simply too old for a fair trial.  In the writer’s experience, that defence rarely succeeds. European jurisdictions on the other hand do have set limitation periods for criminal prosecutions. 

A very good book on the issue of comparative systems of law is “Child Abuse Tort Claims against Public Bodies – A Comparative Law View” published by Ashgate in 2004 and edited by Duncan Fairgrieve and Sarah Green. This book deals with civil claims brought against public authorities in relation to child abuse and the law stated below is as stated in that book.

In France, administrative law has strict limitation periods. A 1968 statute lays down that debts owed by the State are only payable for 4 years from the 1st January following the date on which the debt arose. That applies to debts owed in contract or “delict” a form of negligence. That may have the effect of cutting off claims brought by adults, although apparently some French courts have been prepared to hold that time does not run until the Claimant is aware of the loss. In relation to the criminal law, felonies, including the crime of torture, are subject to a limitation period of ten years, starting from the day of the commission of the crime, if during this period no investigative step was taken

In Germany, the position of children in relation to the family unit is thought to be weak. Children are not legally entitled to childcare measure themselves. The criminal law also provides for set limitation periods, depending on the severity of the offence.

In Holland, a claim for damages expires five years after the victim became aware of both the damage and the person responsible, but there is a further long stop period of twenty years after the event that gave rise to the liability. In cases of sexual crimes, the time limit does not run until the end of the criminal limitation period, which is 12 years from the day the victims reaches his/her majority. The draconian effect of this rule has apparently been modified by the Dutch courts. 

The problem of limitation rules in the criminal law is a stark one. Paedophiles are known to commit crimes against children over a period of decades. If allegations are brought after the limitation period, that paedophile is still free to perpetrate further crimes. The writer has seen one case where the criminal record of an abuser began in 1948 and continued through the sixties, seventies and eighties.