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Reinforcing measures against sex offenders

Resolution 1733 (2010)1

1.       The
Parliamentary Assembly recognises the gravity of the harm
caused to victims of sexual offences. Sexual abuse is
unquestionably an abhorrent type of wrongdoing with
debilitating effects on its victims. Children and other
vulnerable individuals are entitled to special protection in
this respect.

2.       Sex
offenders are thought to be amongst the most frequent
recidivists. The Assembly considers that the supervision of
sex offenders should be seriously addressed within the member
states.

3.
Current national systems dealing with sex offenders vary
greatly across member states. Whilst some states already have
comprehensive management systems to deal with such offenders,
including a functioning ‘sex offenders register’, other states
have no such arrangements and do not have a register in
place.

4.       A ‘sex
offenders register’ is an instrument used in a procedure
whereby convicted sex offenders are required to notify the
relevant authority of personal information such as their name,
address and date of birth, and immediately inform the
authority if their personal circumstances change. The record
of these notifications is commonly referred to as a ‘sex
offenders register.’ For such registers to be effective, all
information stored must be accurate and regularly updated.

5.       The
Assembly recognises the key role that a register can play in
the supervision of offenders, especially when employed as part
of a comprehensive sex offenders management programme. The
information in the register may be used to assess the risk
that the offender poses to the community and therefore manage
that risk. If a large amount of relevant and up to date
information is stored on the register, it can play a key role
in detecting perpetrators of offences rapidly. Registers can
also function as administrative tools since they remind
relevant authorities of the whereabouts of offenders.

6.       The
Assembly is particularly concerned by the fact that convicted
sex offenders are able to continue working with children and
vulnerable persons because of a loophole in the national
system or a system abroad. Under certain circumstances, sex
offenders thus manage to find employment in fields such as
education, the prison service, health service and childcare.
The Assembly is concerned that some member states do not have
an effective ‘vetting and barring’ system in place whereby
those who have been convicted of certain sexual offences are
prohibited from working with children and other vulnerable
persons.

7.       The
Assembly recalls that the 2007 Council of Europe Convention
on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and
Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201) obliges states to introduce
measures, in conformity with their internal law, to ensure
that candidates for professions necessitating regular contact
with children have not been convicted of acts of sexual
exploitation or sexual abuse of children.

8.       The
Assembly welcomes the forthcoming entry into force of the
convention on 1st July 2010 and calls upon those
states that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the
convention.

9.       The
Assembly emphasises that measures to prevent sexual offences
must be based on laws that fully respect human rights and
fundamental freedoms, in particular Article 8 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to
respect for private life. In this regard, the Assembly recalls
that some of those systems which include a sex offenders
register (such as in France and in the United Kingdom) have
been deemed to be compliant with Convention rights by the
European Court of Human Rights.

10.       Sex
offenders travel around – including between European countries
– to perpetrate offences and to avoid conviction and escape
supervision in their home country. The Assembly considers that
the management of sex offenders therefore requires
international co-operation.

11.       The
Assembly regrets the inadequacy of information and exchange of
intelligence on sex offenders between member states. The
Assembly therefore urges states to increase the quality,
quantity and regularity of information and intelligence
sharing on this subject. Such information should be shared in
compliance with the provisions of the Council of Europe
Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to
Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 108) which
secures for every individual respect for his/her rights and
fundamental freedoms, and in particular his/her right to
privacy, with regard to automatic processing of personal data
relating to him/her.

12.       In
view of the high degree of freedom of movement and
establishment among European states, the Assembly considers it
particularly important for states to exchange information on
those offenders who are deemed unsuitable for work with
children or vulnerable persons. Information contained in
national vetting systems should therefore be made available
abroad, including in the Schengen information system, to
ensure the safety of society’s most vulnerable persons.

13.
Interpol has the capacity to store in its database information
on sex offenders provided by member states. This information
is available to law enforcement officials in all member states
to facilitate criminal investigations.

14.       The
Assembly also recognises the need for awareness-raising
campaigns in member states to educate people about the risks
posed by sex offenders and help them recognise signals of
abuse.

15.       The
Assembly favours an integrated approach at the international
level in order to achieve greater effectiveness and coherence
in the protection of all individuals against sexual
offences.

16.
Consequently, the Assembly does not support the introduction
of a Europe-wide sex offenders register but calls on member
states to take effective national measures to prevent sexual
offences and, in particular, to:

16.1.
evaluate their respective legal frameworks to assess whether
they provide appropriate safeguards against sexual offences
and, if necessary, to amend their legislation in order to
create a comprehensive system to manage sex offenders;

16.2.
introduce, as part of their national system, in accordance
with the provisions of the European Convention on Human
Rights and, in particular, in compliance with the principle
of proportionality, a sex offenders register which contains
accurate and regularly updated information on persons
convicted of such offences in order to produce a central
file allowing an exchange of information between entitled
authorities, as strictly defined by law;

16.3.
form a comprehensive package of legal measures aimed at
controlling and monitoring movement of sex offenders,
particularly travel abroad;

16.4.
introduce a system of ‘vetting and barring’ for employment
purposes to ensure that those who pose a risk cannot work
with children or vulnerable persons;

16.5.
ensure any legislation introduced fully respects individual
rights, in particular the right to private life, and
therefore restricts access to the sex offenders register
only to duly entitled officials and excludes access by the
general public to the sex offenders register;

16.6.
any disclosure of information to a particular member of the
public considered necessary to protect a particular child or
children should be strictly regulated and accompanied by
adequate technical or other safeguards to protect against
unauthorised access or misuse;

16.7.
introduce a coordinated and efficient child abduction alert
system;

16.8.
sign and ratify the Convention on the Protection of Children
Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse without delay,
and implement it fully;

16.9.
establish awareness-raising campaigns concerning detection
of sexual abuse and ways to address this problem.

17.       In
order to be effective, the monitoring of sex offenders must
include increased co-operation between states. The Assembly
therefore urges member states to:

17.1.
increase the quality, quantity and regularity of the
information they share with other member states on sex
offenders in order to effectively oversee the movement of
offenders who travel around;

17.2.
improve the information exchange with other member states on
persons convicted of sex offences so that unsuitable persons
are not able to gain employment abroad to work with children
or other vulnerable persons;

17.3.
increase the quantity and regularity of the information on
sex offenders which they feed into the Interpol
database.

1 Text adopted by the Standing
Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly on 21 May 2010
(see Doc. 12243,
report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights,
rapporteur: Mrs de Pourbaix-Lundin)

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