The Supreme Court has decided that the savings law provision in the Constitution precludes an investigation of the validity of three parts of the Offences Against the Person Act.
Gay rights campaigner Maurice Tomlinson’s appeal to the buggery legislation is dismissed by the judgment.
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On behalf of a panel of three justices, Justice David Batts delivered the unanimous decision.
The speaker stated that the 2011 constitutional revisions make it apparent that the Parliament aimed to shield legislation pertaining to sexual offenses from being examined for their unconstitutionality.
The three justices were asked to decide whether the Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA) sections 76, 77, and 79 may be investigated for legality under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Act’s Savings Law provision.
Existing laws that criminalize sexual interactions between males and prohibit the legal recognition of gay partnerships are immune from constitutional challenge under Sections 13(12) and 18 of the Jamaican Charter of Rights and Freedoms, respectively. In the Commonwealth Caribbean, they are known as “savings law” clauses.
The laws that are in effect in Jamaica are those that were in place prior to the adoption of the charter. In 1864, the OAPA came into being.
