17, Apr 2018 | CJP Team

On Thursday, April 12, Trinidad and Tobago Devindra Rampersad stated in a ruling that certain sections in the country’s Sexual Offences Act were unconstitutional, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported. These sections banned “serious indecency” and “buggery” between two men, and Rampersad said in his ruling that they outlawed same-sex activity between consenting adults. Gay sex could soon be decriminalised after this latest judgment. According to local reports and rights organisations, a final judgment on actions to be taken regarding the relevant sections is anticipated in July. The judge’s ruling came in a case that was filed by LGBT activist Jason Jones in 2017. Jones lives in Britain, but was born in Trinidad and Tobago, which acquired independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, and became a republic in 1976. The country lacks laws shielding LGBT people, and a “buggery” conviction carries a sentence of up to 25 years’ imprisonment.