Apr 21, 2023 | News
On 17 and 18 April 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the People’s Matrix Association held a workshop with the Lesotho judiciary where a range of human rights issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) were discussed. The workshop took place in Maseru, the country’s capital, and was aimed at facilitating exchanges among participants, including judges and magistrates, with a view to enhancing everyone’s understanding of the human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons in Lesotho and the challenges they face in accessing justice and effective remedies for violations of their human rights. It was a follow-up to the initial half-day judicial engagement workshop co-hosted by ICJ and OutRight International at the request of Lesotho’s judiciary in October 2022.
Apr 20, 2023
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) recently published a new set of legal principles to address the harmful human rights impact of unjustified criminalization of individuals and entire communities. The document, known as The 8 March Principles, was elaborated and endorsed by lawyers from around the world and sets out a human rights-based approach to criminal laws typically penalizing conduct associated with sex, reproduction, drug use, HIV, homelessness and poverty.
Apr 14, 2023 | News
On 11 April 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) convened an online panel of five human rights advocates from East and Southern Africa to discuss the obstacles preventing organizations working to advance the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people in their countries from registering to operate. The webinar unpacked the advocacy and legal strategies that can, and indeed have been successfully used in some contexts, to challenge discriminatory laws and policies.
Apr 12, 2023
Can an alien cultural and moral imposition in violation of human rights become one’s own law and belief? Indeed, this is what British colonialism gifted Sri Lanka through the introduction of “morality laws”, such as the Vagrants Ordinance of 1841 and the criminalisation of consensual same-sex relationships through the Penal Code of 1883.
Published at:
https://www.ft.lk/columns/Decolonising-the-law-Repeal-antiquated-morality-laws/4-747314
Mar 8, 2023
Today, on International Women’s Day, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) launched a new set of legal principles elaborated by jurists for a human rights-based approach to criminal laws proscribing conduct associated with sex, reproduction, drug use, HIV, homelessness and poverty.
