Children Act, 2001
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Presumption and determination of age of child victim. |
256.—(1) Where in a charge or indictment for an offence under this Part or any offence mentioned in Schedule 1, except an offence under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885 , or the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935 — | |
(a) it is alleged that the person by or in respect of whom the offence was committed was a child or was under or had attained any specified age, and | ||
(b) the person appears to the court to have been at the date of the commission of the alleged offence a child or to have been under or to have attained the specified age, as the case may be, | ||
the person shall for the purposes of this Part be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, at that date to have been a child or to have been under or to have attained that age, as the case may be. | ||
(2) Where a person is charged with an offence to which subsection (1) applies in respect of a person apparently under a specified age, it shall be a defence to prove that the person was of or over that age. |