The Federal Court of Malaysia held state Syariah law criminalising ‘unnatural sex’ void and unconstitutional
On 25 February 2021, the Federal Court of Malaysia delivered a landmark judgment, declaring that Section 28 of the Syariah* Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995 (the 1995 Enactment), which criminalises...
Why Dinah Rose QC Had an Obligation to Give up the Homophobic Cayman Islands Brief: A Response to Lord Hendy QC
Justice Edwin Cameron’s criticism of Dinah Rose QC for persisting in holding a brief in the Privy Council to defend the Cayman Government’s homophobic prohibition on same-sex marriage has little...
An opportunity lost for the protection of freedom of expression and LGBTI rights in Jamaica
On 30 October 2020, the Jamaican Court of Appeal handed down its long awaited judgment in the case of Tomlinson v TVJ and CVM. Tomlinson, a gay Jamaican man, argued...
Czech Constitutional Court: No Recognition of Foreign Adoption by Same-Sex Couples
The recent decision of the Czech Constitutional Court (‘CCC’), Pl. ÚS 6/20, against allowing recognition of foreign adoption decisions in Czechia is harmful in outcome and evasive and formalistic in...
Statement by Edwin Cameron, Retired Justice, South African Constitutional Court: The President of Magdalen prosecutes a homophobic case to deny LGBTIQ persons in the Cayman Islands equal rights
Statement by Edwin Cameron, Retired Justice, South African Constitutional Court. The President of Magdalen prosecutes a homophobic case to deny LGBTIQ persons in the Cayman Islands equal rights. I express...
B and C v. Switzerland: Assessing the Risk of Ill-Treatment against LGBTIs in Deportation Cases
On 17 November 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) delivered B and C v. Switzerland, a case concerning the deportation of a homosexual Gambian national. While the...
The constitutionality of section 10 of the South African Equality Act: a case for balancing the rights to equality, dignity and freedom of expression
Section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (“the Equality Act”) has not been without controversy and robust opprobrium. Since its inception, numerous legal academics...
On the grounds of sex’: SCOTUS brings sexual orientation within the ambit of Title VII
On June 15 2020, the US Supreme Court decided in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act forbids termination of employees because of their...
A Bittersweet Day: Two equality rights decisions handed down by the High Court of Hong Kong
In recent years, the Hong Kong courts have recognised the equality rights of various same-sex couples in a number of cases. On 18 September 2020, the Hong Kong High Court...
Transgender Persons Rules 2020: A Halfhearted Attempt at Redemption
Justice Chandrachud of the Indian Supreme Court, in the landmark Navtej Singh Johar judgment, opined that, “our ability to recognise others who are different is a sign of our own...
Bad blood? Belgian Constitutional Court rules on gay and bisexual blood ban
In September 2019, the Belgian Constitutional Court (‘BCC’) reviewed the constitutionality of a law setting up a 12-month blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM)....
Discriminatory Torture of an LGBTI Person: Landmark Precedent Set by the Inter-American Court
Earlier this year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued a landmark judgment Azul Rojas Marín and Another v. Peru (Azul), in which Peru was found responsible for the...
