The Supreme Court of Mauritius has declared the country’s criminalisation and ban of same-sex intimacy ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘discriminatory’ in a landmark ruling.
Abdool Ridwan Firaas Ah Seek, President of the local LGBTQIA+ organisation Collectif Arc-en-Ciel, bolstered by Human Dignity Trust in London, acted as the main plaintiff.
He challenged the constitutionality of Section 250 of the Mauritian Criminal Code, that dated back to 1838. The section criminalised consensual same-sex relationships, by up to five years in prison.
The judgement delivered on Wednesday (4 October) emphasised that Mauritius is a democratic secular state, finding no justifiable reason to intrude into the private lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals.