LOCAL NEWS
			Britain amends Territory,s Laws and decriminalises homosexuality in compliance with Human Rights Conventions Britain has amended laws of Overseas Territories in order to decriminalise homosexual acts in private between two consenting adults. This law was brought into force following a meeting of Wednesday December 13th in Britain,s Privy Council, where an amendment was made to the laws of all the British Caribbean Overseas Territories. However, homosexuality will still remain a criminal act to engage in homosexual relations with more than two persons, where one of the parties has not consented, where one or both parties are below the age of 18 or where the homosexual act takes place other than in private. "It is not therefore, decriminalisation of homosexual acts across the board; there will remain the protection of the law for all persons below the age of 18 and for non-consenting parties, BVI Governor His Excellency Frank Savage pointed out during a December 12th press conference. The British Government, which has responsibility for the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, has obligations under European and United Nations Conventions. What is happening now is that the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee have raised the issue that laws that criminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private are contrary to the right to respect for private and family life as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Membership in these bodies imposes in the British Government a requirement to observe international law and conventions. "The British government has been looking at this issue for a good number of years and Governorscertainly since 1993, have relayed to the British government the very great concern which such a move would have on our Christian communities, Governor Savage stated. He said the British government took heed of this concern and did not amend the laws of the OT,s, although the laws in the U.K were changed some time ago.  The British Government has now decided that it is now compelled to act, as outlined in the White Paper. Discussions have been held with all the governments of the Caribbean OT,s, the outcome of which has been that the governments of the OT,s have informed Her Majesty,s Government that they could not possibly agree to introduce such legislation. The British Government has therefore decided to act unilaterally through the Privy Council to amend the laws of the Overseas Territories. According to His Excellency, the British Government is not making any statement about morality. "And I think this is the issue which we need to look at at this time, as I,m sure that the majority of residents of the BVI will be disappointed, concerned and some no doubt angry at the changes. He said he held a meeting recently with the Christian Council to discuss the sue of criminality and morality and they looked at areas where he would like to see the community taking a much closer interest in the year 2001. Some of these areas include child molestation, incest and domestic violence all immoral and criminal acts. He said while we are all concerned about changes to our laws, he hopes we would reflect on other areas or morality and criminality and as a community, come together to ensure that the BVI is a better place for all, including the more vulnerable members (women and children), as we go forward in the development of this community.
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