Should incest crimes be imprescriptible?

[fireflame]

I watched a documentary followed by a debate about incest crimes in France. One question which was brought was whether it would be positive or not to make sexual crimes imprescriptible, meaning that a victim could sue a rapist 20 or 30 years after the crime was committed.

An argument raised against this idea is that time erases proofs, increasing the risk for the victim to see the abuser get a non-guilty verdict.

However, the documentary pointed out that victims often face traumatic memory loss, meaning that they can forget what they lived for years, and then remember it under special circumstances when they do not live anymore with the person who assaulted them for example. When this happens, they have to lead a long fight if they want to get justice, whose result is not certain at all. In France judges often attempt to transfer incests cases from the assize court to the correctional court, which means the gravity of the crime is diminished, rapes being renamed as sexual assault.
Which choice would be more relevant in such cases, in a context where proofs disappear over years?

 

[jjreamPop]

The mental and emotional trauma inflicted on victims does not have an expiration. I don't see why punishment of the perpetrator does.
Also, which two choices you're referring to?

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

Considering that memory repression and threat-based coercion are things, yes.

 

[Wiped]

Why are you talking about suing them?

Legal charges can surely be brought against someone at any time for the rest of their life? What does suing for money in a civil law case have to do with that?

 

[fireflame]

The mental and emotional trauma inflicted on victims does not have an expiration. I don't see why punishment of the perpetrator does.
Also, which two choices you're referring to?

Click to shrink...

leaving or not an expiration for the crimes, assuming that there could be a risk for the victim to face a new emotional trauma if the victim sees the perpetrator get away in a court of law.It could add new emotional trauma for the victim who thinks he/she will get justice.

 

[Piecake]

First time I've ever seen/heard that word

 

[Phrozenflame500]

what's an 'incest crime' in this case? i don't see why any form of rape, statutory or otherwise, should have a time limit attached to litigation.

 

[fireflame]

Why are you talking about suing them?

Legal charges can surely be brought against someone at any time for the rest of their life? What does suing for money in a civil law case have to do with that?

Click to shrink...

there is a prescription for sexual crimes, it includes penal prescription: in France, an adult has 20 years to ask for justice, if the person was a minor when assaulted, he/she has 30 years, meaning the victim must report the crime before the age of 48.

 

[fireflame]

what's an 'incest crime' in this case? i don't see why any form of rape, statutory or otherwise, should have a time limit attached to litigation.

Click to shrink...

A father abusing his daughter for example.The argument about prescription is that proofs fade with time(chances of getting witness, etc).

 

[jjreamPop]

leaving or not an expiration for the crimes, assuming that there could be a risk for the victim to face a new emotional trauma if the victim sees the perpetrator get away in a court of law.It could add new emotional trauma for the victim who thinks he/she will get justice.

Click to shrink...

That should be up to the victim to decide to risk or not. It's inhumane to saddle them with a time limit.

 

[fireflame]

That should be up to the victim to decide to risk or not. It's inhumane to saddle them with a time limit.

Click to shrink...

Sadly the time limit is part of all the issues victims face, in addition to facing the rejection from a part of the family sometimes. And the cases can take years before a verdict is finally delivered(in the documentary they often had to wait 7+ years).

 

[jjreamPop]

Sadly the time limit is part of all the issues victims face, in addition to facing the rejection from a part of the family sometimes. And the cases can take years before a verdict is finally delivered(in the documentary they often had to wait 7+ years).

Click to shrink...

I don't see anything here that says taking action can't be a decision made by the victims, instead of a decision made for them to "protect" them because everyone else knows what's best for them.

 

[Wiped]

there is a prescription for sexual crimes, it includes penal prescription: in France, an adult has 20 years to ask for justice, if the person was a minor when assaulted, he/she has 30 years, meaning the victim must report the crime before the age of 48.

Click to shrink...

I didn't know that. Interesting thanks

 

[fireflame]

I don't see anything here that says taking action can't be a decision made by the victims, instead of a decision made for them to "protect" them because everyone else knows what's best for them.

Click to shrink...

That was the position of a lawyer who wrote a book about victims of incest. He seemt to think that making crimes imprescriptible could hurt them because the more time passes, the harder it is to win such a case, as the only elements available will likely be the word of the victim vs the word of the perpetrator. He said he wanted justice for the victims but that the reality of law courts was harsh basically.

 

[Dyle]

No criminal cases, sexual or otherwise, should be subject to statues of limitation. If they fail due to lack of reliable evidence then so be it, there is still more justice in having your case heard before a court and failing to get a ruling than letting the injustice be silently forgotten with no chance for a legal solution.

 

[AuthenticM]

The right of the government of Canada to prosecute crimes is imprescriptible, regardless of crime. That's how it should be. If prosecutors can't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, that's on them; the burden of proof isn't lowered because of the time.

In civil cases, there is a period of prescription for the right to sue, generally three years. However, in certain provinces, in the case of sexual violence, the period of prescription is much longer. This was made so precisely because sometimes it takes a long time for the victim to come forward and have the strength to go to trial.

 

[Acorn]

Both suing and convictions should be available for lifetime for a crime as heinous and life altering as this.

Regardless of time you will still need to win the case so I don't see the issue.

 

[Fiction]

The mental and emotional trauma inflicted on victims does not have an expiration. I don't see why punishment of the perpetrator does.
Also, which two choices you're referring to?

Click to shrink...

Yep.

Especially when it comes to cases of incestual child abuse, those scars last a lifetime. The victims get a life sentence no matter what.