Uganda's harsh anti-gay law approved by
lawmakers in December has been struck down.
According to the
BBC, a 5-judge panel of Uganda's Constitutional Court ruled the
legislation invalid because it was approved during a parliamentary
session that lacked a quorum.
“The speaker was obliged to ensure
that there was a quorum,” the court said. “We come to the
conclusion that she acted illegally.”
A group of gay rights activists and
politicians filed the challenge in March, a month after Uganda
President Yoweri Museveni signed the measure, which calls for life
imprisonment for the crime of “aggravated homosexuality.” The
law also bans the “promotion of homosexuality.”
Nicholas Opiyo, a Ugandan lawyer who
joined in petitioning the court, called the victory bittersweet since
the law was struck down on a technicality.
“The ideal situation would have been
to deal with the other issues of the law, to sort out this thing once
and for all,” he told the AP.
A colonial-era law criminalizing gay
sex remains on the books.