遇人不淑 / Being Cheated in Love

上文【春眠不覺曉 / Spring Time】登了之後,在新鮮人的【慎防混水摸魚!】処留下了一些有關評語(下列英文),無錯,我曾說:『... 大家雖然可憐L遇人不淑,但這是她個人之决定,作為納稅人,為什麼要負上責任,養她自願簽紙申請過來的男人?』但之後我心裏總覺得不快,如果法律只追討愛情婚姻受騙的「受害者」,那些騙了財又騙了色,挑完就唔要的「牙籤大少」,豈不就是消遙自在,完全無負任何責任?如果法律是平等和保護公民(和納稅人)利益,那么社会行政官应要怎樣做才能幫助受害者,和防止同樣事情再發生呢?

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我的英文評語: http://freshdesigner.blogspot.com/2008/04/blog-post_7258.html

(Disclaimer: I am not a legal counsel and my comments do not constitute any legal opinions or positions.)

I think the govt can only go after the party (or parties) that signed the contract, and only if the conditions of the contract have been breached. It is my understanding that a sponsorship contract usually stipulates that the sponsor shall be financially responsible for a period of time (usually 10 years) regardless of whether the couple remains married or not during the same period. Otherwise, people may deliberately choose to divorce and then shift the financial burden to the govt (and therefore the tax payers). Please note I am not saying or implying in any shape or form that it is the case here, not at all.

To prosecute a person for fraud, the Crown must prove (beyond a shadow of doubt?) that there has been intent or a conspiracy to commit fraud. In a relationship situation, the prosecutor has to rely on evidence from the "victimized" spouse who might not be considered an unbiased witness. Further, there is no law that prohibits a person from saying I love you one day and then leaving the next. It all comes down to producing acceptable hard evidence to convince the court.