Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer

A.J. Nicholson

Attorney-General A.J Nichol-son has reiterated that the Govern-ment has no plans to decriminalise buggery. The matter came up again yesterday during a parliamentary committee's deliberations on another piece of legislation, giving rise to new questions as to the appropriateness of a change of heart.

Senator Nicholson, the chairman of the joint select committee, in a quick rejoinder, proclaimed that there was "no intention, whatever, that any section or provision of the Buggery Act is to be amended. Period!"

It was during consideration of proposals for amending the Offences Against the Person Act, specifically in relation to a number of sexual offences, that the issue was raised.

There have been several recommendations to make the language of this and other legislative measures gender-neutral in respect of victims and perpetrators of some sexual offences, and in how some sexual activities are defined.

Resident Magistrate Paula Blake Powell asked whether this was the intention in respect of the bill under consideration, as well.

Senator Nicholson, seemingly startled by the question, promptly served notice that if there was any provision in the bill which, by inference or otherwise, would give legitimacy to the act of buggery, it would be taken out without hesitation.

In an interview with The Gleaner, after the committee meeting, he explained the rationale for his position.

Sending a message

"You have to be careful how you define anal sex as rape because, to the uninformed, such as children, you could be sending them a message that this is normal sexual intercourse. If you keep sexual intercourse in the traditional way as we know it, between a man and a woman, but all other sexual acts are defined differently, you wouldn't fall into that trap. You have to be careful how you define rape," he stressed.

The question of decriminalising buggery became a major talking point during last year's deliberations of the parliamentary committee, which considered recommendations for a new Charter of Rights bill in the Jamaican Constitution.

The committee rejected any change to the age-old legal prohibition against buggery under the law and, according to Mr. Nicholson, that's the end of the matter.

"The Cabinet has not accepted in any form that buggery should be decriminalised, and for the foreseeable future, that remains the position," he stated.