[JURIST] A Dutch court on Monday rejected a request to ban a political party that wants to lower the age of sexual consent from 16 to 12, saying "the freedom to set up a political party" can be viewed as "the basis for a democratic society." Opponents had asked The Hague District Court to bar the Party for Neighborly Love, Freedom, and Diversity (PNVD) [official website, in Dutch; Wikipedia backgrounder], often called the "pedophile" party, from registering for the November national elections, citing a concern that children should not know about the party's main purpose. The PNVD party sparked outrage when it announced its existence in May [BBC report], saying that it also wants to legalize the possession of child pornography.

The PNVD party, which only has three registered members, will not likely win a seat in parliament. Estimates predict that the PNVD party will garner fewer than 1,000 votes in November's elections, and a seat in parliament usually requires around 60,000 votes. In fact, the PNVD party may even fail to obtain the 30 signatures necessary to register for the November elections because pedophiles tend to remain anonymous, and will not want to connect their name to the political party, according to a pedophilia researcher at the Solace Foundation [advocacy website]. AP has more. The Guardian has additional coverage.