Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code

Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code criminalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and provides for a penalty of up to ten years in prison.[1]

The 135 year old British law criminalizing gay sex remains on the books, however the law is not used and remains a dormant law. The US Department for Justice wrote that the police were "not actively arresting and prosecuting those who engaged in LGBT activity" and that the provisions have also reportedly not led to any convictions to date despite "complaints citing the provisions of the law [being] received by the police". It has also been ruled unenforcable by the Supreme Court.[1]

Text

Of Unnatural Offences and Grave Sexual Abuse [§17, 22 of 1995 ]

365

Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years , and shall also be punished with fine and where the offence is committed by a person over eighteen year s of age in respect of any person under sixteen years of age shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than ten years and not exceeding twenty years and with fine and shall also be ordered to pay compensation of an amount determine d by court to the person in respect of whom the offence was committed for injuries caused to such person.[2]

365A

Any person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempt s to procure the commission by any person of, any ac t of gross indecency with another person, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be punished with imprisonment o f either the description for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both and where the offence is committed by a person over eighteen year s of age in respect of any person under sixteen years of age shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than ten years and not exceeding twenty years and with fine and shall also be ordered to pay com - pensation of an amount determined by court to the per- son in respect of whom the offence was committed for the injuries cause d to such person.[2]

Politics

Supreme Court Judgements

The Constitution of Sri Lanka prohibits the Supreme Court from striking down Article 365A because the Constitution does not provide the Supreme Court with the power of judicial review. The second republican constitution was amended to state "all bills passed in parliament shall become law after it receives the Speaker's Certificate (79), it will be final and cannot be questioned in any court of law (80.3)".

All existing written law and unwritten law shall be valid and operative notwithstanding any inconsistency with the preceding provisions of this Chapter.

— Article 16 (1) of the constitution:

However, in 2017, the Supreme Court had made a pronouncement and established new case law by saying that it would be inappropriate to impose custodial sentences on people who were accused of engaging in homosexual sex, thereby de facto setting the law legally dormant.

Mr. Nerin Pulle said the Supreme Court has made a recent progressive pronouncement on Penal Code offences that may be applied to same sex sexual conduct. “In SC appeal 32/11, the court acknowledged “contemporary thinking that consensual sex between adults should not be policed by the State nor should it be grounds for criminalization.” While acknowledging that such offences are part of Sri Lanka’s criminal law, the court held that imposing custodial sentences would be inappropriate in cases where the impugned acts were between consenting adults,” he said.

— Lahiru Pothmulla, http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/SL-committed-to-non-discrimination-based-on-sexual-orientation-Nerin-Pulle-140616.html

Political Parties

UNP (Conservative)

It's widely held that the homosexuality of the party's leader is an open secret. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the victim of accusations that he abused his power to seduce younger party members into having homosexual sex with him, which they allege is driving parents to keep their children away from the party's promotional activities. This might reflect the ethos of the party and its voter base as a whole.[3]Mangala Samaraweera is an openly gay politician serving as the country's Ministry of External Affairs on behalf of the UNP.[4]

Being gay is totally fine. Even in Sri Lanka you can be gay, as long as you marry a woman. I think this is horrible (girls I know have married gay guys in arranged marriages and it was predictably terrible and short lived). What I mean is that being homosexual is fine even if it’s not accepted by some cultures. Sexual harassment and assault is not fine in any abstraction.

— Indi Samarajiva, Colombo Telegraph

In November 2017, Deputy Solicitor General Nerin Pulle stated that the government would move to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity.[5]

UPFA (Socialist)

The party had used homophobic slurs in parliament against the UNP whilst openly gay Mangala Samaraweera was speaking.

See Also

Sexual Minorities in Sri Lanka

Tamil Sexual Minorities

References

  1. 1 2 "Department for Justice" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 "Penal Code of Sri Lanka" (PDF). UMN.
  3. ↑ "Is Ranil Gay?". Colombo Telegraph. 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  4. ↑ "Standing Up For The Gay Politician: Mangala Samaraweera On Right Track?". Colombo Telegraph. 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  5. ↑ Sri Lanka promises to decriminalize homosexuality and to protect LGBTI people
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