Lords division · 13 Nov 2000 · No. 1

Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill

It was moved by the Baroness Young, in Clause 1, page 1, line 5, to leave out subsections (1) to (4) and insert— (“(1) In the Sexual Offences Act 1956, in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 16 (indecency between men etc.) of Schedule 2 (punishments etc.), for the word “eighteen” there shall be substituted the word “sixteen”. (2) In the Sexual Offences Act 1967—(a) in subsection (1) of section 1 (amendment of law relating to homosexual acts in private), for the words “a homosexual act” there shall be substituted the words “an act of buggery in private with another man or commission of an act of buggery”; (b) after subsection (1), there shall be inserted— “(1A) Notwithstanding any statutory or common law provision, an act of gross indecency in private with another man or commission of an act of gross indecency shall not be an offence provided that the parties consent thereto and have attained the age of sixteen years.”; (c) in subsection (3), after the words “subsection (1)” insert “or (1A)”; (d) in place of subsection (6), there shall be substituted— “(6) It is hereby declared that where in any proceedings it is charged that— (a) an act of buggery with another man or being party to the commission of such an act is an offence the prosecutor shall have the burden of proving that the act was done otherwise than in private or otherwise than with the consent of the parties or that any of the parties had not attained the age of eighteen years; (b) an act of gross indecency with another man or being party to the commission of such an act is an offence the prosecutor shall have the burden of proving that the act was done otherwise than in private or otherwise than with the consent of the parties or that any of the parties had not attained the age of sixteen years”; and (e) in section 8 (restriction on prosecutions), for the words “against any man” to the end of section there shall be substituted— “(a) for the offence of buggery with another man, for attempting to commit an act of buggery, or for aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring or commanding its commission where either of those men was at the time if its commission under the age of eighteen; (b) for the offence of gross indecency with another man, for attempting to commit an act of gross indecency, or for aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring or commanding its commission where either of those men was at the time if its commission under the age of sixteen.”. (3) In section 13 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (homosexual offences)— (a) in subsection (1) for the words “a homosexual act” there shall be substituted “an act of sodomy in private by one male person with another male person or commission of an act of sodomy”; (b) after subsection (1), there shall be inserted— “(1A) Subject to the provisions of this section, an act of gross indecency in private or shameless indecency in private by one male person with another male person or commission of such an act shall not be an offence provided that the parties consent thereto and have attained the age of sixteen years.”; (c) in subsection (3), after the words “subsection (1)” insert “or (1A)”; (d) in subsections (5) and (8), for the words “a homosexual act” there shall be substituted “an act of sodomy by one male person with another male person”; (e) after subsection (5), there shall be inserted— “(5A) Subject to subsection (3) above, it shall be an offence to commit or to be party to the commission of, or to procure or attempt to procure the commission of an act of gross indecency or shameless indecency by one male person with another male person— (a) otherwise than in private; (b) without the consent of both parties to the act; or (c) with a person under the age of sixteen years.”; and (f) after subsection (8), there shall be inserted— “(8A) It shall be a defence to a charge of committing or to being party to the commission of, or to procuring or attempting to procure the commission of an act of gross indecency or shameless indecency by one male person with another male person under subsection (5A)(c) above that the person so charged being under the age of 24 who had not previously been charged with a like offence, had reasonable cause to believe that the other person was of or over the age of 16 years.”. (4) In Article 3 of the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 (homosexual acts in private)— (a) in paragraph (1), for the words “a homosexual act in private” there shall be substituted “an act of buggery in private by a man with another man or commission of an act of buggery in private by a man with another man”; (b) after paragraph (1), there shall be inserted— “(1A) Subject to Article 123 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, and notwithstanding any other statutory provision or any rule of law, an act of gross indecency in private with another man or commission of an act of gross indecency with another man shall not be an offence provided that the parties consent thereto and have attained the age of 17 years.”; (c) in paragraph (3), after the words “paragraph (1)” insert “or (1A)”; and (d) in paragraph (5), for the words “a homosexual act” to the end there shall be substituted— “(a) an act of buggery by a man with another man or being party to the commission of such an act is an offence the prosecutor shall have the burden of proving that the act was done otherwise than in private or otherwise than with the consent of the parties or that any of the parties had not attained the age of 18 years; (b) an act of gross indecency with another man or being party to the commission of such an act is an offence the prosecutor shall have the burden of proving that the act was done otherwise than in private or otherwise than with the consent of the parties or that any of the parties had not attained the age of 17 years.”.”); which being objected to, the question was put thereupon, and the Committee divided:

At a glance The Contents won by a margin of 61 votes. The Government's position was Not Content, and it lost. This was not a whipped vote, so no party line applied.

How the parties voted

The party breakdowns are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.

Peers attend divisions ad hoc, so there is no did-not-vote list. Tellers are counted in the Content and Not Content totals, unlike in the Commons.

Tellers: Baroness Seccombe (Content), Baroness Young (Content), Baroness Hilton of Eggardon (Not Content), Earl Russell (Not Content).

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Source: the official Lords division record.