The Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney General, Vanika Sobers Joseph, has described as “inaccurate” that the buggery ban in Dominica has been lifted following this week’s High Court ruling on the matter.
In a 40-page ruling on Monday, High Court judge, Justice Kimberly Cenac-Phulgence, said that sections 14 and 16 of the Sexual offenses actions contravened Sections 1 and 10 of the Dominica Constitution and their rights to liberty as enshrined in the Constitution.
But speaking on the Ministry of Legal Affairs programme on the state-owned DBS radio on Thursday night, the Solicitor General said “the thought that the buggery ban had been lifted is inaccurate.
“The cases set out that in limited circumstances as it relates to two consenting adults in private, the act of buggery has been decriminalised. The laws of buggery are still on the book to protect the rights of minors and adults who do not consent,” Sobers Joseph told radio listeners.
Section 14 is a sweeping law criminalising gross indecency which is defined as any act (other than penile-vaginal sex) by anyone “involving the use of the genital organs, breast or anus to arouse or gratifying sexual desire.”
The maximum penalty is 12 years in prison, if the act is committed with a person aged 16 or older, while section 16 of the Act criminalises buggery, which the Act defines as anal sex between two men or between a man and a woman.
The maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment plus the possibility of forced psychiatric confinement.
The acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Athlene Nesty, said she is urging Dominicans to read the ruling of the case that had been brought by an un-named “gay individual” identified only as “BG” against the Attorney General, the Bishop of Roseau, The Methodist Church and the Anglican Church. The Dominica Association of Evangelical Churches was listed as an interested party.
“It is available on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court website. Read the case, when you read the case fully understand what the Court used to come to the particular judgement and you will understand the fact that buggery has not been decriminalised and also gross indecency has not been decriminalised. So educate yourself.”
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Sherma Dalrymple, urged the public to be responsible “in what we put out to others, what we disseminate in public.
“Let us be responsible in ensuring that what we say is the truth and our headlines reflect the accuracy of the state of affairs and that when we make representation that these representations are accurate.
“I know that the state is in the interest of all its citizens. The state enacted the laws for buggery, these were challenged and the state of affairs that stands now is that the law has been qualified,” the DPP said.
National Security and Legal Affairs Minister, Rayburn Blackmoore, who also spoke on the programme said “the notion that it is a situation whereby people can openly go to the public etc and engage in such acts is not true.
“The notion that the government has legalised buggery is not true. The notion that buggery has in totality been decriminalised is not true and the notion that charges can be brought under the sections that were referenced here tonight is also false,” Blackmoore added.
The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) has welcomed the ruling by the High Court saying “this impactful decision makes Dominica the latest Caribbean nation to champion equal rights and inclusivity for all its citizens”.
It said that the ruling affirms the constitutionally protected freedom of expression and the equal right to privacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people in Dominica.
The Dominica Equality & Sexual Expression Association (DESEA) and the Minority Rights Dominica (MiRiDom), have also welcomed the court ruling.
