CCJ New Ruling On Sexual Violence
Content Warning: This episode contains mentions of rape and sexual assault.
In February of 2022, The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled that a man can rape another man in Barbados. The finding from the Caribbean appellate court, which was the view of six members of the seven-judge panel, arose out of an appeal by the Barbados commissioner of police who had challenged a decision by a Barabadian magistrate who had dismissed a rape matter, claiming that a man could not rape another. The court, in allowing the appeal starting on the 9th of November 2021, ruled that the rape case against Stephen Alleyne, which was initially dismissed, is to be remitted to the magistrate’s court for a preliminary hearing. On this episode, we spoke to Jeniece St. Romain, an attorney at law from Antigua and Barbuda, where she gave a brief overview of the case, clear up many public confusions over the legal jargons used in the media when discussing the case as well as give her opinion on the ruling; and what this ruling means for countries where the CCJ is the highest ruling court and the Buggery Act is enforce.
Notes
CCJ: CCJ Finds Males Can Be Raped (Media Release)
CCJ: CCJ Finds Males Can Be Raped (Judgement)
CARICOM Today: CCJ Finds Males Can Be Raped
Jamaica Observer: CCJ rules men Could Be Victims of Rape In Barbados
New Now Next: Homosexuality Is Still Illegal In These 9 Caribbean Countries
The Guardian: Homophobic Laws in Caribbean Could Roll Back In Landmark Case
Jamaica Gleaner: Editorial | Belize Further Highlights Illogic of Buggery Law
Loop Barbados: Victory at the T&T High Court Against Buggery Laws
Joseph Gaskins Jr: ‘Buggery’ and the Commonwealth Caribbean - A Comparative Examination of the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago
gal.dem: An Oxford University President is Fighting To Roll Back LGBTQ+ Rights in the Caribbean. Why?
UKCLA: Will The Caribbean Court of Justice Replace The Privy Council?
Constitution Net: The End of the Caribbean Court of Justice? On Failed Constitutional Referendums in Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda
CARICOM: Caribbean Court of Justice
Cornell Law School: The Caribbean Court of Justice: A Horizontally and Vertically Comparative Study of the Caribbean’s First Independent and Interdependent Court
Twitter: Jeniece St. Romain