Man Who Raped Ex-Wife 49 Years Ago Faces Trial

In 1963 an Australian man was accused of raping his wife and now 49 years later a panel of judges have ruled that he can be tried for the crime nearly five decades after it occurred.

The 81-years-old mans lawyers argued that marital rape at the time of the alleged offense could not have occurred in 1963 because at the time Australia was a “very unenlightened and socially backward country by modern standards.” His lawyers argued that the court should not apply today’s law standards to a time when laws were different.

Five of the seven justices on the panel argued that by 1963 laws related to divorce and property meant “lawful marriage to a complainant provided neither a defense to, nor an immunity from, a prosecution for rape.”

In a dissenting opinion two judges argued that in 1963 a man could not have been convicted of raping his wife and that it is “abhorrent” to punish someone for an event that was not a crime at the time of the offense. According to Justice Virginia Bell:

“The common law was demeaning to women in its provision of the immunity. It is no answer to that recognition to permit the conviction of the appellant for an act for which he was not liable to criminal punishment at the date of its commission.”

According to the Australian the couple divorced in 1979 and the ex-wife will now testify against her former husband. The ex-husband has been charged with four counts of assault.

Do you think taking someone to court for something that wasn’t against the law when it was committed is wrong?