There were further developments in what’s become known as the buggery law court case on Monday.
In November 2015, LGBT activist, Maurice Tomlinson, filed a law suit against the government claiming that the buggery law, contained in the Offences Against the Person Act, contravened his constitutional rights as a homosexual man.
The Court of Appeal began hearing an appeal on Monday by the Attorney General, on behalf of the government, against a ruling by Miss Justice Tricia Hutchinson in the Supreme Court in January 2022.
The Attorney General is contending that the savings law clause in the 2011 Charter of Rights protects certain laws from being challenged in certain circumstances. Were the Attorney General to ultimately succeed, the future of the buggery law would be in the hands of elected law makers in parliament.
The Court of Appeal is to determine whether Justice Hutchinson was wrong to refuse the application.
Submissions by Ian Wilkinson K.C. on behalf of respondent, Maurice Tomlinson began on Monday and will continue when the court resumes its sitting on Today. A number of Churches, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, and Hear the Children’s Cry, being the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Interested Parties respectively, will also have an opportunity to address the court during the hearing
