Unlike many other democratic countries, here in the UK we don’t have a set of clear laws that have been carefully laid down by people deciding what the law should be. We don’t have a clearly written constitution unlike the USA. If someone asked you what your protected rights are, most people wouldn’t be able to say this with any level of certainty. Here in the UK even our most basic of constitutional rights are hidden and difficult to find, so much so that the everyday person would struggle to be able to say with any certainty what those rights are! Is it any wonder that half of us don’t know where we stand legally when it comes to sex and dating?
So the age of consent in England and wales is 16 years of age. That means if you have sex with someone that is less than 16 years old, you can into a lot of trouble. This is even if you are 17 years old. This poses a particular problem for anyone in that bracket. When you are that age, you could have sex with someone just 6 months younger than you, and that could make you a sexual offender.
The UK crown prosecution service have made a public statement that says that they will not prosecute teenagers under the age of 16 for having sex, as long as they are both under 16 and that it is of course consensual. So whilst it remains illegal – they are not going to do anything about it. But hang on you think! It is still illegal, so what If they change their mind? This is where a little knowledge of how the development of English law happened will help. English law is developed over time through cases. Someone goes to court over something, then what ever that judge decides sets a “precedent” which other judges then follow if a similar case comes up. This means it is a constantly evolving beast. Where that plays an important role here, is that in the UK we have a history of obeying “convention” and “precedent” like it is law (which it is in some cases). So when the crown says that they are not going to prosecute, they really do mean it. So if you are teenager, you don’t need to worry!
So that is the basics of how the law works! If you are over 18 you are free to sleep with anyone you like as long as they are over 18, if you are over 16 you can sleep with anyone else over 16 as long as they are not in a position of power like your teacher.
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