Norris v Ireland 1991, E.H.R.R., 186
Citation: Norris v Ireland 1991, E.H.R.R., 186
Rule of thumb: Can homosexuality be made a criminal offence? No, this law has to be struck down as being a violation of the right not to be discriminated against.
Judgment:
the basic facts of this case was that acts of homosexuality – not necessarily homosexual intercourse, were declared to be crimes. The European Court of Human Rights declared these to be a violation of human rights. However, significantly, it stated that as Norris had not actually been punished under them, he was not entitled to damages – just the fact that Norrish had respected and not broken them, to his loss of pleasure, was not enough to grant him a remedy for human rights violations under Article 8, the right not to be discriminated against, ‘Such justifications as there are for retaining the law in force unamended are outweighed by the detrimental effects which the very existence of the legislative provisions in question can have on the life of a person like the applicant. Although members of the public who regard homosexuality as immoral may be shocked, offended or disturbed by the commission of others of homosexual acts, this cannot on its own warrant the application of penal sanctions when it is consenting adults alone who are involved’, para 46, Judge Ryssdal, President
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