Ugandan court overturns anti-gay law

Uganda’s Constitutional Court today threw out the country’s harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act on the grounds that it was passed illegally without a quorum of parliament.
Fridah Mutesi, a plaintiffs’ attorney, stated:

“History has been made today in Uganda when the panel of five justices of appeal unanimously agreed with our submissions that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014, was passed without a quorum and thus null and void under the supremacy of the Constitution.
“[Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga’s] action of omitting to ascertain the quorum on the 20th December  2013 after it had been raised three times was an illegality under the Constitution and the parliamentary rules of procedure.”

Because today’s action was not based on the content of the law, Uganda’s parliament might pass the same bill again — this time with a quorum present — since it has widespread support inside and outside parliament.

Before the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, Ugandan law already called for life imprisonment for homosexual activity, but that law had been rarely used.  The parliament’s adoption of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in December led to increased harassment and brief detentions of LGBT people in Uganda, even before it took effect. It is unclear whether that harassment will continue.
The now-overturned law provided for imprisonment for five to seven years for anyone convicted of “promoting homosexuality” or who “in any way abets homosexuality and related practices.” (See more provisions of the overturned law in the article “Draconian details of Uganda’s misguided new anti-gay law.“)
Today’s successful challenge was brought by LGBT and human rights activists, legal experts and opposition politicians.

They included Professor J. Oloka-Onyango, member of parliament Fox Odoi, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) leader Frank Mugisha, Freedom and Roam Uganda leader Jacqueline Kasha Nabagesera and the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum — Uganda (HRAPF).
They were represented by five counsel: Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi, Caleb Alaka, Francis Onyango, Nicholas Opiyo and Fridah Mutesi.
Activists worried about the possibility of a backlash because of the ruling.

Anti-gay Pastor Martin Ssempa told BuzzFeed after the ruling that:

“He suspected the court had been corrupted, and would demand an appeal of the ruling to the Supreme Court and an investigation by Parliament into the independence of the judiciary.