Decriminalising Homosexuality: Proposed Amendment to the Penal Code

Abstract

On 4 April 2023, MP Premnath Dolawatte’s private member bill to amend sections 365 and 365A of the penal code was read for the first time in parliament. This is because the LGBTQI+ community has historically been the target of harassment with the implementation of section 365 under the title “unnatural offences” and section 365A under the title “acts of gross indecency between persons”. In response to this first reading, on 17 April 2023, three petitioners appearing before the Supreme Court claimed that the private member bill was “inconsistent with one or more articles of the constitution”. On 9 May 2023, however, the Supreme Court determined that the “bill as a whole or any provision thereof is not inconsistent with the constitution”. Taking this into consideration, Manthri.lk evaluated the current penal code and the proposed amendment to the penal code.