INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS
and
CENTRE FOR COMPARATIVE AND PUBLIC LAW, FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
Forum
Towards Full Inclusion: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights
Significant regional legal developments related to sexual orientation and gender identity have taken place in the last few years. In Hong Kong, the Court of Appeal upheld the invalidation of laws that maintained unequal ages of consent for gay men and the Court of Final Appeal struck down a law targeting public homosexual sodomy, ruling that the anti-homosexual focus was discriminatory. The Nepal Supreme Court ruled that the legislature must address sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. The High Court in Fiji struck down a buggery law as being in violation of constitutional and international guarantees of the right to privacy. In March 2007, a panel of prominent international jurists and human rights experts from around the globe adopted the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.
In light of these events, the International Commission of Jurists and the Centre for Comparative and Public Law will host a forum to consider, discuss, and promote further changes to the law in this significant area. Expert panelists will address related issues with particular reference to the Hong Kong judgments and their impact, international standards and experiences from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Jill Cottrell, United Nations Development Programme, Nepal
- Philip Dykes, SC, Barrister
- Yash Ghai, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia
- Holning Lau, Associate Professor, Hofstra University School of Law
- Gladys Li, SC, Barrister and ICJ Commissioner
- Vitit Muntarbhorn, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK and ICJ Commissioner
- Margaret Ng, Barrister, Member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council
- Roddy Shaw, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Please visit the CCPL website at http://www.hku.hk/ccpl/ for further details.
Admission is free.
Date/Time26/04/2008 09:30-16:00VenueLecture Theatre T1, Meng Wah Complex, HKULanguageEnglish