The High Court of Saint Lucia has declared the country’s laws criminalising consensual same-sex conduct unconstitutional. This marking marks significant advance for human rights in the Caribbean.
Prior to the ruling, sections of the Criminal Code prohibited “buggery” and “gross indecency,” carrying penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. Though rarely enforced, these provisions, rooted in colonial law, perpetuated discrimination, reinforced stigma, and contributed to social exclusion and violence against the LGBTQ+ community.
The challenge was brought by local plaintiffs with support from regional advocacy groups, including the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) and United & Strong. The court found that the laws were inconsistent with constitutional protections, including equality, non-discrimination, privacy, and freedom of expression. In its reasoning, the court emphasised that criminalisation fosters public humiliation, vilification, and even physical attacks, contrary to the dignity of citizens and evolving standards of decency in a democratic society.
Saint Lucia joins Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis in striking down similar colonial-era provisions. However, five Caribbean jurisdictions, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, continue to criminalise same-sex intimacy, with recent constitutional challenges rejected in the latter two.
International human rights bodies, including the United Nations, have long held that such criminalisation breaches global legal standards and undermines public health, safety, and the rule of law.