{"id":67,"area":"Latin America & Caribbean","region_name":"Jamaica","iso_2":"JM","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Offences Against the Person Act from 1864","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law is available at: https://moj.gov.jm/sites/default/files/laws/Offences%20Against%20the%20Person%20Act_0.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Article 76 - “Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery committed either with mankind or with any animal, shall be liable to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years.”\n\nArticle 77 - “Whosoever shall attempt to commit the said abominable crime, or shall be guilty of any assault with intent to commit the same, or of any indecent assault upon any male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding seven years, with or without hard labour.”\n\nArticle 78 - “Whenever upon the trial of any offence punishable under this Act, it may be necessary to prove carnal knowledge, it shall not be necessary to prove the actual emission of seed in order to constitute a carnal knowledge, but the carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon proof of penetration only.”\n\nArticle 79 - “Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 2 years, with or without hard labour.”","legal_code_body_citation_1":null,"legal_code_body_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body_citation_3":null,"legal_code_body_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments":"In 2009, Jamaica introduced a new Sexual Offences Act which establishes the rules for the ‘Sex Offender Register and Sex Offender Registry’ at Sections 29 - 35, operative as of October 2011). Under this law, anyone convicted of a “specified offence” must be registered as a “sex offender” and comply with specific obligations. Articles 76, 77 and 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act (cited above) fall under the category of “specified offences” as per Article 2 of the law’s First Schedule. \nTo provide law enforcement agencies with appropriate LGBT sensitisation training was the only recommendation accepted by Jamaica in its 1st cycle UPR in October 2010. All other 11 recommendations were rejected – calls for decriminalisation, non-discrimination and protection of LGBT human rights defenders. In its Final Report, the Working Group recorded the State’s response: “Jamaica stressed that the issue of male homosexuality was one of great sensitivity in Jamaican society, in which cultural norms, values, religious and moral standards underlay a rejection of male homosexual behaviour by a large majority of Jamaicans; and that the Government was committed to ensuring that all citizens were protected from violence” (para. 32). \nAt its 2nd cycle UPR in May 2015, Jamaica received 18 recommendations from States, of which it accepted only three: all of which were to do with the investigation and prosecution of violence acts against LGBT people and those defending their rights. The rejected, or ‘noted’, recommendations were primarily to do with criminalisation, but also many to do with codifying non-discrimination provisions relevant to LGBT people. The State mentioned that “several initiatives had been put in place” in order to create better understanding of SOGI-related issues in Jamaica, giving the example of police sensitisation in regards to in-force education on human rights, diversity training and support to LGBT people in the reporting of crime. \nThe UN Treaty Bodies HRCee (2011, para. 8) and CESCR (2013, paras. 8, 9) urged Jamaica to repeal its buggery laws, to send a strong message that harassment, discrimination or violence against LGBT persons will not be tolerated, and to swiftly and effectively investigate, prosecute and sanction individuals for such acts. The CRC (2015) expressed concern about gaps in the overall data collection in Jamaica, in particular with respect to LGBT children (para. 16). In his report on his mission to Jamaica in 2010, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, touched upon the harsh living conditions of gay men deprived of their liberty. \nAs a member of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Jamaica is under the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The IACHR has recently been monitoring the situation of human rights in Jamaica, dedicating a full chapter (chapter 6) to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in its 2012 Jamaica Country Report. In 2014 the Commission held two ex officio public hearings, one in March and another one in October, to follow up on the Report. In both hearings, civil society organisations and the State submitted updated information with regard to the issues discussed in that 2012 Report. \nAt the General Assembly of the OAS, Jamaica joined the resolutions on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity and Expression adopted by that body since 2008. However, since 2013, Jamaica has introduced footnotes to every resolution on the matter approved since then, in an attempt to limit or reject the content of these international instruments. The footnote inserted in 2013 (fn. 3) reads: “The Government of Jamaica is unable to join the consensus on the approval of this resolution, given that the terminology of gender expression, as proposed, is ambiguous and has the potential to impose one value system over another. Furthermore, this term and other new terminologies used in the text, have not gained international acceptance nor are they defined in Jamaica’s domestic law.” The exact same footnote was repeated in 2014 (fn. 6). However, in 2016 (there was no resolution in 2015), Jamaica slightly shifted the tone of its footnote and declared: “The Government of Jamaica is fully committed to protecting the human rights of all its citizens including from any form of violence in accordance with the rule of law and the Jamaican Constitution. Jamaica, however expresses its reservation regarding terminologies such as gender identity and gender expression which are not defined in Jamaican law and have not gained international acceptance” (fn. 1). \nDespite striking reports showing that up to 91% of Jamaicans believe lawmakers should make no attempt to repeal buggery laws, decriminalisation efforts are also being channelled through strategic litigation before local courts. The first hearing in this case was held in January 2016. \nThe human rights situation of LGBT people in Jamaica has been documented by several organizations: Kaleidoscope Trust (2015); Human Rights Watch (2014 and 2004); J-FLAG (shadow report for Jamaica’s 2nd UPR cycle; shadow report and replies to LOIs—together with other organisations—for the 2016 HRCee review). In 2016, J-FLAG also published a study showing how gays in Jamaica are exposed to increased levels of hate or rejection and how conversion “therapy” enjoys high levels of acceptance, especially among politicians and employers. After their video report on the “Gully Queens,” Vice documented the challenges on running a queer shelter in Jamaica. Another report focused on the experience of LGBT persons in Jamaica, how fleeing the country is a frequently considered alternative, and how these experiences jeopardise the country’s human, social and economic development. In fact, regarding the issue of asylum, a gay Jamaican refugee living in Canada is now working with Rainbow Canada to help other LGBT people flee persecution in Jamaica. \nIn terms of visibility, in 2016 a number of activities were organised in Kingston, in celebration of the Jamaica Pride. Other pride events also took place in the city of Montego Bay. During his visit to Jamaica, former President of the United States, Barack Obama, openly supported Angeline Jackson, a local activist fighting for LGBT equality and against corrective rape in Jamaica. In January 2017, the University of West Indies organised “Beyond Homophobia: Centring LGBT Experiences in the Caribbean,” the second conference on the subject matter. \nWith regard to statements by public officials, even though the Minister of Education stated that there was “no place” for school bullying based on sexual orientation in Jamaica, the head of the country’s Teachers’ Association (JTA) said he could not ask counsellors to assist LGBT students as long as same-sex sexual acts remain criminalised. \nIn January 2017, Jamaican cable companies censored the American docudrama series “When We Rise” (a US mini- series about rights recognition for LGBT people). Many other films and series have been banned in Jamaica, including an advertisement promoting love and respect for LGBT people. The Jamaican Court of Appeal has yet to rule on the lawsuit brought forward by Maurice Tomlison against two TV stations that refused to air the ad.","legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_1":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_2":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_3":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_5":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_6":null,"legal_code_scruff_comments":null,"prison_term_min_length":null,"prison_term_max_length":10,"prison_term_notes":null,"prison_term_not_specified":null,"prison_term_years":true,"prison_term_life":null,"prison_term_mandatory":null,"fine_min_amount":null,"fine_max_amount":null,"fine_currency":null,"fine_notes":null,"fine_not_specified":null,"fine_amount":null,"fine_mandatory":null,"penalty_death":false,"penalty_death_notes":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment_notes":null,"penalty_hard_labor":true,"penalty_hard_labor_notes":null,"penalty_banishment":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_same_sex_acts":true,"legal_code_explicitly_references_acts_against_nature":null,"legal_code_differentiates_anal_sex_from_other_acts":true,"legal_code_indicates_hiv_as_aggravating_factor":null,"legal_code_indicates_age_of_consent_homosexual_acts_over_18":null,"existing_laws_used_to_target_gays_but_not_anti_gay":null,"islamic_sharia_law":null,"islamic_sharia_law_notes":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction_notes":null,"laws_not_specifically_homophobic":null,"laws_status_unclear":null,"laws_status_unclear_notes":null,"persecution_non_state_agents":null,"criminalization_under_consideration":null,"recently_decriminalized":null,"propaganda_law_under_consideration":null,"propaganda_law_title":null,"propaganda_law_title_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_body":null,"propaganda_law_body_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_ilga_comments":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_summary":"Anti-sodomy provisions (Offences Against the Person Act, 1864) remain in force. In Attorney General v. Maurice Tomlinson (2023), the Court of Appeal ordered a separate trial on the constitutionality question in March 2023, prolonging (without resolving) the litigation.","legal_developments_2023_2024_citations":"ILGA World, Laws On Us: A Global Overview of Legal Progress and Backtracking on SOGIESC, 1st Ed. (Geneva, May 2024), p.60-61.","status_change_type":"Unchanged; constitutional litigation ongoing with procedural setback"}