Edad sexual y exclusión de la responsabilidad penal. Fundamentos del Derecho anglosajón

  1. Martinez Guerra, Amparo 1
  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Complutense de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR 02p0gd045

Revista:
Revista de Derecho Penal y Criminología

ISSN: 1132-9955

Año de publicación: 2020

Número: 23

Páginas: 67-106

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.5944/RDPC.23.2020.27045 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Otras publicaciones en: Revista de Derecho Penal y Criminología

Resumen

En los últimos años, la protección de menores frente comportamientos de abuso y explotación sexual ha sido una de las preocupaciones principales en los sistemas legales de Derecho continental y anglosajón. La respuesta de los Legisladores penales ha sido la elevación de la edad de consentimiento sexual de los menores de edad. Sin embargo, la medida provoca problemas interpretativos de índole constitucional que no pueden ser obviados. Por un lado, la posible afectación del derecho fundamental a la privacidad de los propios menores (desarrollo de su sexualidad). Por otro, la proporcionalidad de la sanción penal prevista para ese tipo de delitos, así como los efectos de la inscripción en los Registros de Delincuentes sexuales. En España, la modificación de la LO 1/2015, de 30 de marzo, elevó la edad de consentimiento sexual a los 16 años. La reforma también incluyó el nuevo art. 183 quáter, que permite al Tribunal eximir de responsabilidad penal cuando autor y víctima sean “próximos por edad y grado de desarrollo o madurez”. En los sistemas penales anglosajones esta cláusula, denominada “cláusula de escape” o “cláusula Romeo y Julieta”, es una de las piezas centrales del delito del statutory rape o delito de violación definido por estatuto. Este artículo examina los orígenes, configuración y el fundamento de la exclusión de la responsabilidad penal por “cercanía en edad o desarrollo” en los Estados Unidos de América (sistemas federal y estatal), Reino Unido e Irlanda del Norte, República de Irlanda y Canadá. El artículo analiza también la jurisprudencia más importante al respecto y los problemas constitucionales derivados de las nuevas las edades de consentimiento.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE, Model Penal Code. Official Draft and Explanatory Notes. Complete Text of Model Penal Code as adopted at the 1962 Annual Meeting of the American Law Institute at Washington, D.C., May 24, 1962, Philadelphia.
  • ANNITO, M., “Consent searches of minors”, New York University Review of Law and Social Change, vol. 1, 2014, pp. 1-51.
  • BULLOUGH, V. L. / GRAUPNER, H., Adolescence, sexuality and Criminal Law. Multidisciplinary perspectives, First Edition, Taylor Francis Group, New York, 2006.
  • BUNTING, L. / COLETTE MCAULEY, C., “Teenage pregnancy and parenthood: the role of the fathers”, Child & Family Social Work, vol. 9-3, 2004, pp. 295-303.
  • BURNIE R. W., The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, with introduction, commentary and forms of indictments, Waterlow & Sons, London, 1885.
  • CARPENTER, L., “On statutory rape, strict liability and the public welfare offense model”, American University Law Review, 53, 2003, pp. 313-391.
  • CARPENTER, B. / O´BRIEN, E. / HAYES S. / DEATH, J., “Harm, responsibility, age and consent”, New Criminal Law Review, vol, 17- 1, 2014, pp. 23-54.
  • CHRISTOPHER, R. L. / CHRISTOPHER, K.H., “The paradox of statutory rape”, Indiana Law Review, 2012, vol. 87, 2012, pp. 505-549.
  • CONFORD, A., “Preventive criminalization”, New Criminal Law Review, 18, 2015, pp. 1-34.
  • COTTER, A. / DOYLE U. / LINNANE, P., “Sex Offenders Act, 2001: Implications for the Probation and Welfare Service, Policy and Practice”, Irish Probation Journal, vol. 2-1, 2005, pp. 78-83.
  • DENNO, D. W., “Why the Model Penal Code´s Sexual Offense Provisions should be pulled and replaced”, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 1-1, 2003, pp. 207-218.
  • DICKSON, B., The Irish Supreme Court: historical and comparative perspectives, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2019.
  • DEHART, G. F., “Comity, Conventions, and the Constitution: State and Federal Initiatives in International Support Enforcement”, Family Law Quarterly, vol. 28-1, 1994, pp. 89-115.
  • DOYLE, C., Juvenile Delinquents and Federal Criminal Law: The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act and Related Matters, Congressional Research Service, 6 Nov, pp. 1-23, 2018, disponible en https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30822.pdf
  • - Extraterritorial application of American Criminal Law, Congressional Research Service, October 31, pp. 1-73, 2016 disponible en https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/94-166.pdf
  • FISCHEL, J. J., “Per se or Power?, Age and sexual consent”, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, vol. 22-2, 2010, pp. 279-341.
  • FISCHEL, J. J. / O´CONNEL, H. R., “Disabling consent, or reconstructing sexual autonomy”, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, vol. 30- 2, 2015, pp. 428-528.
  • FLETCHER, G. P., “Dogmas of the Model Penal Code”, Buffalo Law Review, vol. 2-3, 1998-1999, pp. 3-24.
  • FINDER, S. / KOREMAN, S., “Community, context, and the contrasting roles of clinicians and researchers: challenges raised by statutory rape”, American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 14-10, 2014, pp. 55-57.
  • GRANT, I. / BENEDET, J., “The Statutory Rape Myth: A Case Law Study of Sexual Assaults against Adolescent Girls,” Canadian Journal of Women and Law, vol. 31, 2019, pp. 266-292.
  • GRAUPNER, H., “Love versus abuse: Crossgenerational sexual relations of minors: a gay rights issue?”, Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 37-4, (1999), pp. 23-56.
  • - “Sexual consent. The Criminal Law in Europe and overseas”, Archives of Sexual Behaviour, october, vol. 29-5, 2000, pp. 415-461.
  • GREEN, S. P., “Prototype Theory and the classification of offenses in a revised Model Penal Code”, Buffalo Criminal Law Review, vol. 4-1, 2000-2001, pp. 301-304.
  • HIGGINSON, J. C., “Defining, excusing, and justifying deviance: teen mothers´s account for statutory rape”, Symbolic Interaction, vol. 22 -1, 1999, pp. 25-44.
  • GUERRINA, B., “Mitigating punishment for statutory rape”, University of Chicago Law Review, Fall vol. 65-4, 1998, pp. 1251-1278.
  • INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS., The situation of Children in the Adult Criminal Justice system in the United States, Washington D.C, 1 Mar. 2018 (OAS/Serv. L/V/II Doc. 34/18).
  • HAMILTON, C., “The Presumption of Innocence in Irish Criminal Law: Recent Trends and Possible Explanations”, Irish Journal of legal Studies, vol. 2-1, 2011, pp. 3-21.
  • HAMILTON, V. E., “Principles of Family Law”, Fordham Law Review, vol. 75- 1, 2006, pp. 31-73.
  • HARRIS, A. J. / LOBANON-ROSTOVSKY, C. / LEVENSON, J. S., “Widening the Net: the effects of transitioning to the Adam Walsh Act´s Federally Mandated sex offender classification system”, Criminal Justice and Behavior, vol. 37-5, 2010, pp. 503-519.
  • HEILBRUN, K. / DE MATTEO, D. / KING, C. / FILONE, S., Evaluating Juvenile Transfer and Disposition: Law, Science, and Practice, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, New York and London, 2017.
  • HENDERSON, G., Criminal Advice and Remittals to the Children’s Hearings System, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and the Centre for Youth & Criminal, July, 2017, pp. 1-17.
  • KADISH, S. H. / SCHULHOFER, S. J. / STEIKER, C. S., Criminal Law and its processes. Cases and materials, 8th edition, Wolter Kluwers, New York, 2007.
  • LAUER, R. J., “Fourteenth Amendment- Statutory rape: protection of minor female and prosecution of minor male”, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology”, vol. 72, 1981, pp. 1374-1392.
  • LAW REFORM COMMISSION, Report: Sexual offences and capacity to consent, Dublin, 2013.
  • LEE, S., “Child´s voice vs. parent´s control: resolving the tension between the Convention on the rights of the child and U.S Law”, Columbia Law Review, vol. 117- 3, 2017, pp. 687-728.
  • LEIGH, L. / ROCKOFF, J. E., "Estimates of the Impact of Crime Risk on Property Values from Megan's Laws." American Economic Review, vol. 98-3, 2008, pp. 1103-1127.
  • MACKAY, R., Bill C-22: An act to amend the criminal code (age of protection) and to make consequential amendments to the criminal records Act, Legislative Summary, Parliamentary Information and Research Service, Library of Parliament, Ottawa, 2007, pp. 1-17.
  • MARTÍNEZ GUERRA, A., “Notas sobre el Registro de delincuentes Sexuales”, Revista de Actualidad Criminológica, vol. 4, 2016, pp. 46-52.
  • MARCO FRANCIA, M. P., “La inscripción en el Registro de Delincuentes Sexuales, una pena de inhabilitación especial contraria al principio de legalidad. A propósito de la Sentencia núm. 37/2018 del Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo núm. 3 de Zaragoza”, La Ley, vol. 9256, 2018, pp. 1-10.
  • MATEVIA T. C., “Sex offenses and Penal Code Revision in Michigan”, Wayne Law Review, Summer, vol. 14-3, 1967-1968, pp. 934-985.
  • MAYNARD, R. A (ed.), Kids having kids, The economic costs and social consequences of teen pregnancy, Routledge, New York, 1997.
  • MILLER, B. B. / COX. D. N. / SAEWYC, E.C., “Age of sexual consent in Canada: Population–based evidence from law and policy”, The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, vol. 19-3, 2010, pp. 105-117.
  • MINOW, M., “We, the Family: Constitutional Rights and American Families”, The Journal of American History, vol. 74-3, The Constitution and American Life: A Special Issue, Dec.,1987, pp. 959-983.
  • MOLINA BLÁZQUEZ, C., “A propósito de la constitucionalidad del Real Decreto 110/2015, que regula el registro de delincuentes sexuales”, La Ley Penal: Revista de Derecho Penal, Procesal y Penitenciario, vol. 119, 2016 pp. 1-15.
  • MOORE, M.M., Causation and responsibility: an Essay in Law, Morals, and the Metaphysics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014.
  • OLSEN, F., “Statutory rape: a feminist critique of the rights analysis”, Texas Law Review, vol. 63, 1984, pp. 394-432.
  • OUDERKEK B. A. / FARR, R. H. / REPPUCCI, N. D., “Defining sexual abuse victimization and revictimization. Is love or sexual abuse? Young adults´perceptions of statutory rape”, Journal of Child Abuse, vol. 22, 2013, pp. 858-877.
  • PEARLSTEIN, L., “Walking the tightrope of statutory rape law: using International legal standars to serve the best interest of juvenile offenders and victims”, American Criminal Law Review, vol. 47, 2010, pp. 109-128.
  • PETRONI, S. / DAS, M. / SAWYER, S. “Protection versus Rights: the age of marriage versus the age of consent”, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, april, vol. 3-4, 2019, pp. 274-280.
  • POTTER, J. R., “Sex offenses”, Maine Law Review, vol. 28-1, 1976, pp. 65-95.
  • PRENDERGAST, D., “Strict Liability and the Presumption of Mens Rea after CC v. Ireland”, Irish Jurist, vol. 46, 2011, pp. 211-220.
  • -“The constitutionality of strict liability”, Dublin University Law Journal, vol. 33, 2011, pp. 285-318.
  • REGAN, D. H., “Rewriting Doe v. Wade”, Michigan Law Review, vol. 77, 1979, pp. 1569-1642.
  • ROBINSON, P. H., “The American Model Penal Code: A Brief Overview”, New Criminal Law Review, Summer, vol. 10-3, 2007, pp. 319-341.
  • ROBINSON, P. H. / WILLIAMS, S. T., Mapping American Criminal Law. Variations across the 50 states, Praeger, California, 2018.
  • SANTELLO, J. S / SPINDLER, E. / MOORE, E., “Criminalizing sexuality or preventing child marriage: legal interventions and girls´empowerment”, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, april, vol. 3-4, 2019, pp. 206-208.
  • SAYRE, F. B., “Public Welfare Offenses”, Columbia Law Review, vol. 33, 1933, pp. 55-88.
  • SCHWARTZ, L. B., “The Model Penal Code: An invitation to Law Reform”, American Bar Association Journal, vol. 49-5, may, 1963, pp. 447-455.
  • - “Morals offenses and the Model Penal Code”, Columbia Law Review, vol. 63-4, april, 1963, pp. 669-686.
  • STEVENSON, K., “It is what Girls of indifferent character do… Complications concerning the Legal age of consent in the light of R v. C (2011), Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 76, 2012, pp. 130-139.
  • STONE, D. G., “The Model Penal Code in Idaho”, Idaho Law Review, vol. 8-2, spring, 1972, pp. 219-288.
  • STONE, G. R. / SEIDMAN, L.M. / SUNSTEIN, C.R. / TUSHNET, M.V. / KARLAN, P.S., Constitutional Law, eight edition, Aspen Publishers, New York, 2018.
  • TEWKSBURY, R. / JENNINGS, W.G. / ZGOBA, K. M., “A longitudinal examination of the sex offender recidivism prior to and following the implementation of SORN”, Behavioral Sciences and the Law, vol. 30, 2017, pp. 308-328.
  • VARELA, L., “Strict liability como forma de imputación jurídico penal”, Indret, 3, 2012, pp. 1-26.
  • VV.AA., Víctimas de delitos: Modelos de actuación integral, Valencia, Tirant lo blanch, 2020, en prensa.
  • WALKOVER, A., “The Infancy Defense in the New Juvenile Court”, University of California Law Review, vol. 31, 1984, pp. 509-562.
  • WASSERSTROM, R. A., “Strict liability in the Criminal Law”, Stanford Law Review, vol. 12, 1959-1960, pp. 731-745.
  • WEEKS, J., Sex, Politics and Society: the regulation of sexuality since 1800, 3rd Edition, Routledge, New York, 2012.