| Decision by Chief Justice(ag) Ian Chang : Quincy McEwan, Seon Clarke, Joseph Fraser, Seyon Persaud and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) vs. Attorney General of Guyana ; Cross Dressing Challenge in Guyana Auteur(s) : High Court of Guyana through Faculty of Law University of West Indies Rights Advocacy Project Résumé : From the joint media release (http://sasod.blogspot.com/2013/09/joint-media-release-from-thesociety.html ) " The Chief Justice said that cross-dressing in a public place is an offence only if it is done for an improper purpose.
The Chief Justice also found that the police violated the human rights of the four litigants in the case during their crackdown in February 2009 when they arrested them under section 153(1)(xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act and he awarded each of the four arrested compensation of $40,000 (GYD) for breach of their rights to be informed as soon as reasonably practicable as to the reason(s) for their arrests under Article 139 (3) of the Guyana Constitution.
Chief Justice Chang also decided that section 153 (1) (xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, is immune from the constitutional challenge brought by the four transgender litigants and their supporting organisations. As an 1893 law, pre-dating Guyana’s independence, the Chief Justice said “legislative rather than curial action is necessary to invalidate the provision.” Droits : All rights reserved by the source institution. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00016900/00001 | Partager
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