Apex court to hear ‘groundbreaking’ sexual acts case

A challenge to sections of Zambia’s penal code that are widely interpreted by officials in that country as criminalising gay sex, is making its way through the courts – and it could put the judges hearing the case on the spot. Carmel Rickard, in her A Matter of Justice report on the Legalbrief site, reports that the challenge focuses on the phrase ‘against the order of nature’, words that occur in the laws of a number of African countries. While the words have been taken to refer to sex between men (and, sometimes, between women), the new litigation claims the phrase is vague and thus unconstitutional. If the court finds the phrase isn’t vague, then the petition suggests a potentially embarrassing alternative: the judges should provide an exhaustive list of ‘the different categories of sexual intercourse activities which can be performed in accordance with the order of nature’.

Zambia judgment