Lawyer Hopes Catholic Church Abuse Claims Will Lead to Legal Change

STV
March 9, 2013

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/217010-cameron-fyfe-hopes-law-on-time-bar-will-be-changed-after-fresh-claims/

Cameron Fyfe: Six clients making abuse claims

A leading Scottish solicitor believes a change to the law making it easier for sexual abuse victims to claim compensation could be considered in light of fresh allegations against the Catholic Church.

Cameron Fyfe is acting on behalf of six clients who claim they were abused by priests, two of whom came forward in the weeks since Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigned after admitting sexual misconduct.

It follows reports that bishops in the Scottish Catholic Church knew of 20 allegations of child sex abuse between 1985 and 1995.

Mr Fyfe said: "I'm acting for six clients who allege they were abused by priests, some in the 1980s, some in the 1990s. One we have raised a court action over in the Court of Session and one we're just about to raise a court action over. The other four we're currently investigating.

"Two of the victims were abused in the early 1980s, two towards the end of the 1980s, and two relatively recently in the mid-1990s. Two say they were raped by the priest in question; the others suffered serious sexual abuse.”

Mr Fyfe complained that the “time bar” in Scots law, which gives claimants a set period of time in which they must raise an action, was unfair.

He explained: "There's a rule in Scots law that you're supposed to raise an action within three years of abuse or, if you're a child, three years of your 16th birthday, which in my mind is totally unrealistic because victims of sexual abuse hide their memories inside them. But the Catholic Church have always used this time bar as a defence and I think they'll use it in this case as well. As a result of that, they could well escape liability."

The solicitor added that recent events could give weight to his campaign for a change in the law around the time bar.

He continued: "For ten or 15 years, I've been trying to have that law changed. I took two cases all the way to the House of Lords, as it was back then, but without success. I've tried to campaign for the Scottish Parliament to change the law as well, again without success. But it may be that this raft of cases which are now coming through will make the authorities change the law because it's so unfair on victims who've hidden these feelings inside them for many, many years that they cannot then claim compensation."

The Catholic Church has previously renewed its apology to those whose complaints were not taken seriously in the past and insists that all cases are passed on to the police for further investigation.

A spokesman for the Church could not be reached by STV News on Saturday.