{"id":76,"area":"Oceania","region_name":"Tonga","iso_2":"TO","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Criminal Code, No. 9 from 2004","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law is available at: https://www.unodc.org/res/cld/document/ton/1926/criminal_offences_act_html/Criminal_Offences_Act.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Section 136 - “Whoever shall be convicted of the crime of sodomy with another person or bestiality with any animal shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any period not exceeding ten years and such animal shall be killed by a public officer.”\n\nSection 139 - “Whoever shall attempt to commit the said abominable crime of sodomy or shall be guilty of an assault with intent to commit the same or of any indecent assault upon any male person shall be liable at the direction of the Court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 10 years.”\n\nSection 140 - “On the trial of any person upon a charge of sodomy or carnal knowledge it shall not be necessary to prove the actual emission of seed but the offence shall be deemed complete on proof of penetration only.”\n\nSection 142 - “Whenever any male person shall be convicted of any offence against sections [...] 136 and 139 of this Act, the Court may, in its discretion in lieu of or in addition to any sentence of imprisonment authorised under this Act, order the person so convicted to be whipped in accordance with the provisions of section 31 of this Act.”","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":"Interestingly, in its 1st cycle UPR in May 2008, having received three other States’ recommendations to decriminalise same- sex sexual relations (all of which were ‘noted’), Bangladesh used the opportunity of the UPR to recommend that Tonga retain its criminalising law—a recommendation that is anathema to international human rights standards - but Tonga also rejected this advice. The delegation noted “[o]n the issue of the right to privacy... [she] indicated that Tonga is an inclusive society with tolerant Christian values that require respect across differences”. \nIn January 2013, at its 2nd cycle UPR Tonga accepted a Level 3 (“to consider”) recommendation regarding, “strengthening measures to eliminate all discriminatory treatment” based on SOGI from Argentina. However, it then went on to reject a further five recommendations to decriminalise same-sex sexual relations between consenting adults. The delegation did not address the six SOGI recommendations directly in its response to the UPR, but in a response to its ratification of Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) mentioned that one of its reservations may be about same-sex marriage. Tonga’s next UPR will be in October 2017. \nIn 2013, Tonga voted in favour of the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development, which included several references to SOGI-related issues, such as violence and discrimination against LGBT people, and included policy directions on the matter. In May 2015, the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network (PSDN) held its first conference (“Our Voices, Our Communities, Our Rights!”) in Tonga, with the support of the State and the Tongan royal family. Ninety-six delegates (73 of whom work for LGBT CSOs or individual activists from 12 Pacific Islands) attended. Despite vitriolic rhetoric by religious groups, the local LGBT organisation Tonga Leitis Association (TLA) has been active on the ground urging the government to repeal sodomy laws still in force.","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":true,"penalty_corporal_punishment_notes":null,"penalty_hard_labor":null,"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":null,"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) (country not referenced in Ch.1/2 narrative).","status_change_type":"Unchanged (not mentioned in 2024 report)"}