{"id":81914,"date":"2023-05-09T00:45:33","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T04:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=81914"},"modified":"2023-05-09T23:49:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T03:49:05","slug":"sri-lanka-supreme-court-rules-that-a-private-members-bill-seeking-to-amend-penal-code-and-decriminalise-homosexuality-is-not-inconsistent-with-the-constitution-thereby-clearing-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=81914","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Supreme Court rules that a Private Members Bill seeking to Amend Penal Code and decriminalise homosexuality is \u201cnot inconsistent with the Constitution\u201d thereby clearing the way for a Parliamentary debate and vote ."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy
\n Meera Srinivasa<\/strong>n<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled that a Bill seeking to decriminalise homosexuality is \u201cnot inconsistent with the Constitution\u201d, clearing the way for a Parliamentary debate and vote on the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court is of the opinion that the Bill as a whole or as any provision thereof is not inconsistent with the Constitution,\u201d Parliamentary Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The determination pertains to a recent case challenging a ruling party legislator\u2019s Private Member\u2019s Bill that seeks to amend Sri Lanka\u2019s penal code, and decriminalise homosexuality. The Bill, gazetted in March, effectively states that sexual orientation of a person shall no longer be a punishable offence, and any sexual conduct between two consenting adults of the same sex, in public or private, shall no longer be an offence.<\/p>\n

Three persons, all Rajapaksa loyalists, challenged the Bill that brought some promise to Sri Lanka\u2019s queer community who have been fighting for equality for decades. However, their petition was swiftly countered by nearly a dozen others \u2014 LGBTQIA+ activists and allies \u2014 who intervened in the matter with compelling arguments in support of amending Sri Lanka\u2019s century-old, colonial era laws on same-sex relationships.<\/p>\n


\nReference to 377<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its ruling, Sri Lanka\u2019s apex court cited the landmark Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India case in India, in which all consensual sex among adults, including those in same-sex relationships, was decriminalised as the Court historically struck down Section 377.
\nThe Sri Lankan Supreme Court drew attention to the 2018 judgment of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, then a Supreme Court Judge, that said: \u201cGays and lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals continue to be denied a truly equal citizenship seven decades after Independence. The law has imposed upon them a morality which is an anachronism. Their entitlement should be as equal participants in a society governed by the morality of the Constitution.\u201d
\nFurther, it pointed to former Chief Justice Dipak Misra ruling that: \u201cThe sexual autonomy of an individual to choose his\/her sexual partner is an important pillar and an insegregable facet of individual liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Test in Parliament<\/strong><\/p>\n

Activists see the Sri Lankan Supreme Court\u2019s determination as a significant step in the queer community\u2019s decades-long struggle for equal rights, while pointing to the next big test in Parliament.
\n\u201cIn its determination the Supreme Court is very clear that equality and dignity are at the heart of the rights guaranteed to all citizens, irrespective of gender and sexuality. This is very significant,\u201d noted Bhavani Fonseka, Senior Researcher with Colombo-based NGO Centre for Policy Alternatives, and an intervening petitioner who supported the Bill in the Supemre Court case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic moment for Sri Lanka, and we hope that the 225 MPs in Parliament take a leaf out of the SC determination and global developments, to be on the right side of history,\u201d she said.
\nThe Sri Lanka Parliament attempted to amend the law in 1995 but was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled that a Bill seeking to decriminalise homosexuality is \u201cnot inconsistent with the Constitution\u201d, clearing the way for a Parliamentary debate and vote on the subject. \u201cThe Supreme Court is of the opinion that the Bill as a whole or as any provision thereof is …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Supreme Court rules that a Private Members Bill seeking to Amend Penal Code and decriminalise homosexuality is \u201cnot inconsistent with the Constitution\u201d thereby clearing the way for a Parliamentary debate and vote .’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81915,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81914\/revisions\/81915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}