In Odoi-Oywelowo v. Attorney General, (Const. Ct. Uganda, April 3, 2024), Uganda’s Constitutional Court in a unanimous 203-page opinion upheld the constitutionality of most of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023. The Act bans homosexuality and the promotion of homosexuality and contains various enforcement provisions. Plaintiffs contended that the law violated a number of provisions of the Ugandan Constitution, including protections of human dignity, equality, privacy and expression. While upholding most of the law, the court struck down provisions that punish unintentional transmission of HIV and provisions prohibiting leasing or allowing of premises to be used for homosexuality. It also found that Section 14 of the Act that imposed a duty to report homosexuality and gave immunity to a person who reports it in violation of a privilege violates the constitutional rights to health, privacy and freedom of religion. That provision would have presumably required clergy who learn of homosexuality in privileged conversations to report it. Reuters reports on the decision.
