Legal Consent Age in Spain
Northern Cyprus has an age of consent of 16 years, as stipulated in the Criminal Code (Ceza Yasası, arts. 153 and 154). In the 1990s, the Netherlands gained international attention with its age of consent policy. Between 1990 and 2002,[89] a de facto age of consent of 12 was introduced in the Netherlands, subject to restrictions. The relevant law, passed in November 1990, allowed sexual intercourse for young people between the ages of 12 and 16 in most cases, but allowed parents or the child protection authority to challenge the challenge if there was evidence of exploitation. [90] Although the age of consent was often set at 12 internationally, this was partly misleading, as sexual acts remained punishable until the age of 16. The Netherlands has gained an international reputation for being extremely liberal on sexual issues, some of which are due to exaggerated reporting in foreign media and claims by foreign politicians, rather than based on reality. For example, in the 1980s, some conservative activists in the United States claimed that children were being sold as sex slaves at “auctions” in Amsterdam, but presented no evidence to support their claims. [91] As set out in sections 148 and 149, regardless of age, it is unlawful for a person in a position of authority or superiority over a person to engage in sexual acts with that person, or if there is a breach of trust or a situation of distress or dependence. The penalty is more severe if the person is under 18 years of age. The age of consent in France is 15 years, as stipulated in article 227-25 of the Criminal Code, which provides: “Except in cases of rape or sexual assault referred to in Chapter II, Section 3, of this title, sexual assault of a minor under fifteen years of age for an adult shall be punishable by seven years` imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros.” [30] The law does not require that a “yes” to a sexual act be expressed orally. But it says that “consent exists when it has been freely expressed by actions which, having regard to the circumstances of the case, clearly express the will of the person”.
There is no age of consent in Pakistan. All sexual activity in Pakistan is illegal until marriage. The minimum age of marriage is 18 for men and 16 for women. In some cases, women are allowed to marry at the age of 14. Once two people are married, their age is no longer an issue and sex is legal. Consensual same-sex relations are criminalized in Pakistan. The age of consent in Malta is 16. [72] Sexual activity – usually by persons over the age of 16 – with persons between the ages of 12 and 16 may be considered desecration of minors by obscene acts or corruption of a minor, which may result in conviction at the discretion of the prosecution and the courts, depending on the circumstances. Spain has four territories that have their own local age of consent laws. These areas are listed in the following table: In terms of the age of consent, this means that it is illegal to marry someone under the age of 20 without written parental permission. This is true regardless of the age of the partner, as Japan has no exception close to the age of consent (i.e. even if one person is 20 and the other is 19).
In addition, some prefectures have specific laws that go beyond the above and apply only to that prefecture. For example, Tokyo has a child welfare law that prohibits an adult from engaging in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 17, but this only applies to Tokyo. While the various age of consent laws in Japan can be a bit confusing, they give Japan one of the highest average ages of consent. The de facto age of consent is generally considered to be 18 years or older. Since it can be difficult to tell whether a young person is over 16 years of age, for sexual offences against children under sections 9 to 13, it is a defence to show that the defendant reasonably believed that the other person was 16 years of age or older (for example, they look mature enough to be likely to be 16 years old and tell the respondent, than they are). This objection is not possible if the child was actually under 13 years of age. So there is a two-tier system based on age where sex with someone between the ages of 13 and 16 may be legal, but sex with someone under the age of 13 is never legal. The Swedish age of consent also applies if the act takes place outside Sweden, but the elderly person then travels to Sweden.
The elderly person does not need to be a Swedish citizen or resident, but could be a tourist on a temporary visit. This applies regardless of the age of consent in the country where the act took place. [128] [129] The age of consent in Lithuania is 16, as provided for in Article 151.1 of the Lithuanian Criminal Code,[68] introduced by the draft law of July 2, 2010. [68] For a long time, the age of consent in Romania was 14. The Criminal Code of 1864, which followed shortly after the unification of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia and was in force between 1865 and 1936, set the age of consent at 14. According to the Code, article 263 reads as follows: “Any offence against public decency, whether carried out or attempted, without violence, against a child under 14 years of age, whether male or female, shall be punishable by imprisonment for two to three years.” Article 264 defined “indecent assault by force,” the equivalent of the modern crime of rape (although the term “rape” was not used in this code), and stipulated that the maximum penalty should be imposed if the victim was under 15 years of age. [104] In 1936, a new penal code came into force.
