The ICJ is submitting the following contribution to an Amicus Curiae brief of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in the case of Secretary for Justice v William Roy Leung – CACV 317/2005.
The ICJ welcomes today’s decision of the Hong Kong Court of Appeal in the case of William Roy Leung vs Secretary for Justice.
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a lower court that a provision of the Hong Kong Crimes Ordinance (section 118C) was discriminatory based on sexual orientation, as it prohibits consensual male homosexual sex until both parties are above 21 years old. The Court also affirmed that this provision constitutes an arbitrary interference on the right to privacy.
“The decision is a vindication of the right to equality before the law and non discrimination and is consistent with Hong Kong’s obligations under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, ” said Philip Dayle, Legal Officer at the ICJ.
The Crimes Ordinance criminalizes parties to consensual male homosexual sex even if both participants are over 16 years of age, but one party is under the age of 21. Consensual sex between heterosexual persons who are above the age of 16 is not similarly outlawed. The Court reasoned that, “…section 118C of the Crimes Ordinance significantly affects homosexual men in an adverse way compared with heterosexuals.”
The ICJ offered an exposition of the international human rights and comparative public law analysis in relation to sexual orientation in this matter. This intervention was incorporated in the amicus brief of the Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong and was presented to the court.
Both the decision of the court of appeal and the ICJ arguments in this matter are available on the ICJ website
Hong Kong-Roy court appeal-Press releases-2006 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ today welcomed the consideration of a bill by the Philippines’ Senate that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
In sentencing over 100 men to imprisonment and flogging after unfair trials for reputed homosexual conduct, Saudi Arabia has shown its contempt for the basic rights to privacy, fair trials and freedom from torture.
El presente documento fue preparado por la CIJ en apoyo a la importante iniciativa de Brasil para tratar el tema de la no discriminación basada en la orientación sexual durante la 60ma. sesión de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas.
Este documento contiene extractos de decisiones de los órganos de vigilancia de los tratados, de procedimientos especiales de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos, así como mecanismos regionales de derechos humanos que explícitamente se refieren a la orientación sexual. Este documento tiene el objetivo de compilar aquellas decisiones relevantes que pudieran coadyuvar a enfocar el debate y a promover la adopción de decisiones informadas por parte de los estados miembros durante esta sesión de la Comisión.
sexualorientation-advocacy-2004-spa (full text in Spanish, PDF)
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