I was intrigued by reports in the Press on the start of a trial of several Pitcairn islanders on charges relating to underage sex. The islanders themselves insist that sex with girls from the age of 12 upwards (with their consent) has traditionally been accepted on the island. So I was curious to know what laws they are being charged under.

I found the following learned legal article (pdf) which discusses the subject at length, but doesn’t give a clear answer. What is clear is that there is a culture clash between modern political correctness and a much older set of values. At the time when Pitcairn became a British colony (after its occupation by Fletcher Christian and his companions), under English Common Law the age of consent was 12, and the Pitcairners have been proceeding on that basis ever since. In Britain the age of consent was raised by statute in stages to its present level of 16, but was this ever applied to Pitcairn, and if so did anyone ever tell the Pitcairners? And what if the Pitcairners were now to declare independence and open up a hotel for international sex tourists? A moral conundrum for Saint Tony Blair!

Posted by David B at 04:06 AM