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Criminalising LGBT Persons Under National Criminal Law and Article 7(1)(h) and (3) of the ICC Statute
Author(s) -
Bohlander Michael
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
global policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1758-5899
pISSN - 1758-5880
DOI - 10.1111/1758-5899.12136
Subject(s) - statute , law , sexual orientation , compromise , politics , sodomy , lesbian , transgender , context (archaeology) , political science , criminal law , statute of limitations , criminology , sociology , homosexuality , gender studies , paleontology , biology
During the negotiations around the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Statute (ICCS) there was a fierce debate about the use and definition of the term ‘gender’ in its Article 7(3), with a sizeable number of states opposing the use of the term as a synonym for sexual orientation, which could have included lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT). This paper is going to argue that the drafting compromise was ultimately an exercise in moral failure for the sake of the political feasibility, cementing one of the most glaring instances of discrimination, and that it is high time to correct that error, especially in the context of the rising tide of state‐sponsored homophobia that can be noticed in certain countries whose politics have drifted to the (far) right. It will examine whether the existing international criminal law does allow for the characterisation of domestic criminalisation as a crime against humanity, with or without the invocation of the term gender, and how to take the debate forward.