Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.06.2005, Side 18

Laugavegur 70
www.hsh.efh.is
Icelandic design
Mired in Tradition
Iceland’s Courts and Sexual Assault Law
Paul F Nikolov Reports on Sexual Assault Laws
This example is, unfortunately, one
of many. A visit to the Icelandic
Supreme Court’s website (http://
www.haestirettur.is/control/
index?pid=333) outlines one
ruling after another wherein those
convicted of rape and incest are
given probation and fines. Even the
perpetrator of one of the vilest rapes
in Icelandic history, who kidnapped,
tortured and brutally raped his
victim for 36 hours, was sentenced
to only three years in prison, and has
been recently released. One could be
forgiven for getting the impression
that Iceland’s sex crime laws aren’t
tough enough, but the Icelandic
Penal Code actually allows for up to
16 years in prison - the maximum
sentence allowed for any crime - for
instances of rape by force, up to 12
years for raping a child under 14,
and up to ten years for raping a child
under 16.
Why the discrepancy between what
sentences the law allows for and
what sentences the courts mete out?
The Grapevine got in touch with
Kristinn Halldórsson, the judge who
passed the four-month sentence
for child sexual abuse, to find out
what his reasoning was behind the
punishment. Halldórsson told us
that he was bound by law not to talk
about the case, but added that, “the
sentence should speak for itself.”
The Grapevine also spoke with
Þórunn Þórarinsdóttir, a counselor
at rape crisis centre Stígamót, to get
her impressions. For her part, she
believes that a combination of a lack
of understanding of what rape is - as
well as basic psychological defence
mechanisms - have a part to play.
“I’ve asked judges and police why
they give heavier sentences for fraud
and robbery [than they do for rape],”
she said, “and they’ve told me that
when a person steals, they’ve been
planning the crime for a while and
have it organized how they’re going
to commit the crime - they don’t
feel rape or incest are planned. Some
think these crimes reflect a sickness;
that they didn’t know what they
were doing. They also sometimes
have a hard time facing reality. They
think, so-and-so’s a nice guy, they
start making excuses for him because
it’s unbearable for them to face that
he knew what he was doing.”
Alliance Party MP Ágúst Ólafur
Ágústsson, who has made rape law
reform his primary goal, has another
idea as to why judges won’t pass
sentences - an unwillingness to break
precedent. Or, at least when it comes
to sexual assault.
“The courts have pointed out
that they are bound by past cases,
and that this sort of thing has to
develop slowly,” Ágústsson told
the Grapevine. “But if we look at
sentences for drug trafficking, the
sentences are getting longer and
longer - the rulings are sometimes
up to ten or eleven years. We have to
break this vicious circle. If the courts
think, ‘Things have always been like
this’ then we will never break it. We
have sent a message to the courts by
providing a maximum sentence for
rape, and they shouldn’t ignore the
framework in that sense.”
On June 10, 2005, a man was tried in the West Iceland District Court for sexually abusing a
ten-year-old girl. The court heard testimony from the victim, as well as her mother, who said
that since the incident, her daughter’s grades have dropped, she has recurring nightmares and
has fallen into a state of depression. The man was found guilty of the offence and was sentenced
to four months in prison - two of which were probationary - and a fine of 300,000 ISK.
To put the sentence in perspective, that same day another man in the south of Iceland was
sentenced to six months in jail - only two of which were probationary - and a fine of 250,000
ISK for speeding under the influence.
G
úndi