Beyond the hatred

The true quality of any society is judged not by how it looks after its brightest and best people but how it treats those with the greatest disadvantages and, even more so, how it responds to small minorities who are most despised. It is hard to think of a category of more despised people than former sex offenders. There is every reason for them to be despised because their offences are extremely serious and, when they involve acts against minors, there is an understandable feeling of revulsion.

Yet to assume that, after long prison sentences, offenders are incapable of rehabilitation is to take a lamentably dismal approach to the human condition. Furthermore, even those who have committed grave offences remain members of society and, yes, they are entitled to the rights of other citizens.

These issues lay at the heart of the recently published Law Reform Commission's report on establishing a sex offenders' register. The commission had the extremely delicate task of finding a balance between protecting the public from people likely to commit sex offences, while upholding the rule of law in as much as it ensures personal privacy.

The result was a sensible compromise that, admittedly, turns the basic principles of common law on its head. The commission recommends that those applying for jobs related to children and the mentally disabled can be required to prove that they have no sex-related convictions; this involves the job applicant obtaining a police-issued clearance. Under other circumstances the presumption of innocence until guilt has been proven is the hallmark of the legal system.

However, there are understandable concerns in the community surrounding this sensitive area of employment and they cannot be ignored. Job applicants would have the right not to take part in the checking system and this would leave employers to draw their own conclusions.

Some of the more vociferous advocates of lifetime punishment for sex offenders are disappointed that the commission did not endorse the idea of an open-access register of sex offenders. This was mainly ruled out on the grounds that it could hamper rehabilitation efforts but it also reflects unease over creating a means of instituting witch hunts, something a civilised society simply cannot tolerate.