Portugal and its protection of children/http://the-news.net/

I have just read this link on another pro forum and could not believe my eyes:-

http://the-news.net/

Please click on top article

' Paedophiles free to adopt'

A legal loophole in the legislation is allowing child sex offenders to adopt children once they have served out their sentences, coupled with a probation period.

My apologies, since copying the link, it would appear the page has been refreshed. If you click on the latest news on the link, the headline 'Paedophiles free to adopt' appears, but you need to register to read the whole article......................this is all it now says:-

Paedophiles free to adopt
21/6/2008

A legal loophole in the legislation is allowing child sex offenders to adopt children once they have served out their sentences. While there is currently a growing lobby in Parliament to have the law re-written, it faces an uphill battle to be passed as legislation, as experts claim any move...

To access the full article, You need to Login/Register

....................................................................................................

I will try to see if I can find it anywhere else and copy and paste it here. If anyone else finds it first, please post it for me.

China,

I have got the paper version and I am willing to type it out in full. However on my way out now so haven't the time. Will check later to see if anyone has found it.

Here it is China, typed by my own fair hands. Don't blame me for spelling mistakes!!!
From The Portugal News paper version:

A legal loophole in the legislation is allowing child sex offenders to adopt children once they have served out their sentences. While there is currently a growing lobby in Parliament to have the law re-written, it faces an uphill battle to be passed as legislation, as experts claim any move to have the sexual offenders of children named and shamed would be unconstitutional and infringe upon a convicted paedophile’s human rights.

The CDS-PP party is looking to force the majority Sicialist-ruling Government to push through legislation that will impede paedophiles from adopting children.

The party handed in their law decree in Parliament this week, hoping that bringing this loop-hole further to the fore would sufficiently embarrass the Govt into forcing their proposal through.

The law reform, if passed, would stop the existing practice of criminal records of child sex offenders being erased.

Current legislation, relatively recent in that it dates back to 1998, stipulates that criminal records are wiped clean after between 5 and 10 years on completion of the sentence.


The CDS-PP decree further calls on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to have full access to criminal records of parents previously prohibited from having custody of their children for sexually molesting them.

But current laws allow parents such as these to be free to adopt a child.

A party spokesperson stressed that while it believes in “reintegration of criminals into society with a clean slate once they have served their time, the rights and protection of children should prevail when these two values are in conflict.”

However, it emerged this week that the Justice Ministry had recently called on the Attorney-General’s Office to compile a law decree prohibiting paedophiles from adopting.

The CDS-PP has meanwhile also called for the creation of a National Alert and Protection System of Missing Children and one for the lauch of a national campaign warning children and parents over the perils of the Internet.

But legal experts remain adamant that any law looking to keep paedophiles on a permanent database in order to prevent them from adopting children would be in contravention of the Portuguese Constitution - unless sweeping changes are brought about.

Former cabinet minister and PJ police chief Fernando Negrao explained that the foundation of the nation’s Constitution is based on equality, and it would be incorrect to redefine certain criminals, while maintaining anonymous the likes of murderers or rapists.

Former Law Society President and the lawyer representing Kate and Gerry Mccann, Rogerio Alves, has called for a compromise, whereby it would be impossible that the identity of child sex offenders is made public, but that the state is allowed to keep a permanent record of paedophiles to stop them from being able to adopt.

helenm wrote:Here it is China, typed by my own fair hands. Don't blame me for spelling mistakes!!!
From The Portugal News paper version:

A legal loophole in the legislation is allowing child sex offenders to adopt children once they have served out their sentences. While there is currently a growing lobby in Parliament to have the law re-written, it faces an uphill battle to be passed as legislation, as experts claim any move to have the sexual offenders of children named and shamed would be unconstitutional and infringe upon a convicted paedophile’s human rights.

The CDS-PP party is looking to force the majority Sicialist-ruling Government to push through legislation that will impede paedophiles from adopting children.

The party handed in their law decree in Parliament this week, hoping that bringing this loop-hole further to the fore would sufficiently embarrass the Govt into forcing their proposal through.

The law reform, if passed, would stop the existing practice of criminal records of child sex offenders being erased.

Current legislation, relatively recent in that it dates back to 1998, stipulates that criminal records are wiped clean after between 5 and 10 years on completion of the sentence.


The CDS-PP decree further calls on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to have full access to criminal records of parents previously prohibited from having custody of their children for sexually molesting them.

But current laws allow parents such as these to be free to adopt a child.

A party spokesperson stressed that while it believes in “reintegration of criminals into society with a clean slate once they have served their time, the rights and protection of children should prevail when these two values are in conflict.”

However, it emerged this week that the Justice Ministry had recently called on the Attorney-General’s Office to compile a law decree prohibiting paedophiles from adopting.

The CDS-PP has meanwhile also called for the creation of a National Alert and Protection System of Missing Children and one for the lauch of a national campaign warning children and parents over the perils of the Internet.

But legal experts remain adamant that any law looking to keep paedophiles on a permanent database in order to prevent them from adopting children would be in contravention of the Portuguese Constitution - unless sweeping changes are brought about.

Former cabinet minister and PJ police chief Fernando Negrao explained that the foundation of the nation’s Constitution is based on equality, and it would be incorrect to redefine certain criminals, while maintaining anonymous the likes of murderers or rapists.

Former Law Society President and the lawyer representing Kate and Gerry Mccann, Rogerio Alves, has called for a compromise, whereby it would be impossible that the identity of child sex offenders is made public, but that the state is allowed to keep a permanent record of paedophiles to stop them from being able to adopt.

Thank you for that Helenm, it must have taken you ages to type. Really appreciated.

While there is currently a growing lobby in Parliament to have the law re-written, it faces an uphill battle to be passed as legislation, as experts claim any move to have the sexual offenders of children named and shamed would be unconstitutional and infringe upon a convicted paedophile’s human rights.

Taken from the article Helen posted below.

Two points,
First is, no wonder they have no Sex Offenders Register. This explains a lot. And why would Portugal be so special that their sex offenders deserve better treatment than sex offenders in other western nations. How ridiculous that other western countries have sex offenders registers, yet no one claims that it impinges on the civil rights of the sex offenders and here we have Portugal claiming that very thing. Disgraceful, is what it is

Second, in what sort of country do the civil rights of a paedophile exceed the fundamental rights of a child to safety and protection. For a country that professes to love and protect their children, it would appear to the rest of th world to be the opposite. In Aust, sex offenders are registered (for police and parole purposes, not for the general public), their movements are known (once again, not public), they cannot work with children in anyway shape or form, and of course are unable to adopt them. And we dont think this goes far enough,because they still disappear and then re-offend.

As for Portugal, what is wrong with that country. I hope that the civil libertarians that campaign for the rights of the paedophile take a bit of time to consider the rights of the children of the country. The rights of children far outweigh the rights of those that break the law in such a heinous way, inflicting pain and suffering on the most vulnerable members of our society. In short, the rights of children come first, and then a long long way behind the pack come the paedophiles.

Dianeh,
Absolutely.
For a Country to claim they love there children so dearly???
They appear far more interested in these evil people’s rights than children. As said earlier why not look to other Countries to see what they do and what works?? The whole thing stinks.

dianeh wrote:

While there is currently a growing lobby in Parliament to have the law re-written, it faces an uphill battle to be passed as legislation, as experts claim any move to have the sexual offenders of children named and shamed would be unconstitutional and infringe upon a convicted paedophile’s human rights.

Taken from the article Helen posted below.

Two points,
First is, no wonder they have no Sex Offenders Register. This explains a lot. And why would Portugal be so special that their sex offenders deserve better treatment than sex offenders in other western nations. How ridiculous that other western countries have sex offenders registers, yet no one claims that it impinges on the civil rights of the sex offenders and here we have Portugal claiming that very thing. Disgraceful, is what it is

Second, in what sort of country do the civil rights of a paedophile exceed the fundamental rights of a child to safety and protection. For a country that professes to love and protect their children, it would appear to the rest of th world to be the opposite. In Aust, sex offenders are registered (for police and parole purposes, not for the general public), their movements are known (once again, not public), they cannot work with children in anyway shape or form, and of course are unable to adopt them. And we dont think this goes far enough,because they still disappear and then re-offend.

As for Portugal, what is wrong with that country. I hope that the civil libertarians that campaign for the rights of the paedophile take a bit of time to consider the rights of the children of the country. The rights of children far outweigh the rights of those that break the law in such a heinous way, inflicting pain and suffering on the most vulnerable members of our society. In short, the rights of children come first, and then a long long way behind the pack come the paedophiles.

This explains the lack of empathy for Madeleine and her whereabouts by the Portuguese authorities and just why many of us have felt for a long while that something heinous is being covered up there. The Portuguese secrecy laws do not do anything to reassure people like us, who are in fact looking for reassurance from the Portuguese authorities over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. We keep asking the questions of the Portuguese government, the Portuguese judiciary and the Policia Judiciaria and all we are met with is this ridiculous wall of silence, where they will not inform anyone exactly what is going on and what is being done to find Madeleine. The Portuguese Judiciary and the PJ, seem to be able to stick to their secrecy laws when it suits them and to break their own secrecy laws when it suits them too and issue, lies leaks and smears! I have to ask,"Is the human rights of the abductors and or paedophiles, being placed over and above that of the victim Madeleine Mccann and her parents and greater family?"

I have felt and I know many of you have felt, for a very long while that something is very wrong here and something is being covered up and now reading China's article, I am left wondering if this has hit the nail firmly on the head?

Diane, we have laws similar to your in the UK, we do not think they go far enough either, but I could not imagine trying to operate without them! We also have those that simply disappear from the system! So we are not perfect, far from it, but these laws will no doubt evolve over time, where Portugal is stuck in the Dark Ages!

No wonder the Portuguese have acted with such horror at leaving children 50 yards away to eat dinner, even if those children were checked regularly, the Portuguese obviously know a lot more about what actually happens in Portugal and just how *UNSAFE* a country it is for children. The Portuguese holiday brochures and the Portuguese Tourist Boards however, tell us different and give tourists the false impression that Portugal is crime free and there is not a problem regarding the welfare and safety of children, when clearly if you start delving into crime figures and the number of children who disappear and who are NOT returned safely, the figures start to tell another story. These are the official figures, I have a very uncomfortable feeling that these are the tip of the iceberg!

Exactly.

I am so angry over this. I just didnt have the words to do justice to how angry I was and how pathetic this situation is. Portugal should be ashamed. And take that shame and channel it where it belongs.

That is

Ensure that the children of Portugal are safe, and that the rights of the children far outweigh the rights of the paedophiles

Very very simple.

i forgot they had any,time for their laws to change i think