The School of Law welcomes the introduction of a statutory definition of consent into the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015. The definition mirrors closely recommendations made by Dr. Susan Leahy, along with School of Law Adjunct Professor Ellen O’Malley Dunlop and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. In conjunction with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Dr. Leahy has made numerous submissions on this issue to the government and the Minister for Justice. Their proposal recommended a positive statement on the meaning of consent, accompanied by a non-exhaustive list of circumstances where consent would be deemed to be absent. The proposed definition reflects this recommendation. The press release details of the new definition of consent can be accessed here: http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR17000013
