Rape Sentences In Spain

EDM number 1537 in 1993-94, proposed by Joseph Ashton on 18/07/1994.

That this House warns British holidaymakers and tourists to Spain that the minimum sentence for rape is a mandatory 12 years, that defendants are not normally allowed bail, that British legal aid is not available and Spanish legal aid derisory, that when the trial is held months later defence witnesses have often returned home and are difficult to trace, that statements are made in Spanish with doubtful translation, forensic and medical evidence is not precise or at best superficial, that trials do not have a jury, are conducted in Spanish, and convictions can take place on circumstantial evidence, as in the case of Russell Torr of 20 Doncaster Road, Carlton in Lindrick, Worksop, Nottinghamshire and that defence costs for a trial can cost over ú7,000, plus the costs of flights, &c., for family and friends; further warns that prison conditions in Spain are far worse than in Britain; and warns all British men to be exceedingly careful in any holiday liaisons they may have in Spain with women of any nationality.

This motion has been signed by a total of 12 MPs, 2 of these signatures have been withdrawn.