Talk:Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885

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There needs to be a sentence explaining what the "oath clause" actually did. Presumably it made it possible for child victims to give evidence in court, but it doesn't say so. Please clarify.

This particular clause stemmed from the belief that a young child did not have the ability to understand the nature or gravity of an oath and therefore not allowed to present evidence on his or her behalf. While this restriction was intended to protect individuals from frivolous cases based on the unreliable evidence of a child that could not be held accountable for perjury, this "reasoning" qualification hampered the pursuit and conviction of child molestation cases. The "oath clause" freed them from this qualification. RashBold (talk · contribs) 17:11, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Omission of lesbianism

It's commonly claimed that the bill omits lesbianism because Queen Victoria didn't believe it existed. AFAIK that's a myth, but it comes up often enough that it might be worth explicitly answering this story and explaining the actual reasons. --Calair 00:15, 6 January 2007 (UTC)