CONFIDENTIAL
The Law in Hong Kong
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7.
Although homosexuality is not against the law, a
homosexual act between men is in all circumstances a criminal
offence. The maximum penalty for an act of gross indecency
between men is imprisonment for two years (4); for an act of
buggery the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
immaterial to the offence that the act takes place voluntarily
between two adults in private. If discovered they would both
be liable to prosecution and imprisonment (5).
It is
8.
Gross indecency is not defined by statute. It covers
any act involving sexual indecency between two men but it
usually takes one of three forms: mutual masturbation; some
form of contact between the legs; or oral-genital contact
(6). Buggery (anal intercourse) has long been a crime both at
common law and by statute.
SECTION II
:
SHOULD THE LAW BE CHANGED?
The role of the criminal law
9.
The Law Reform Commission has argued in its 1983
Report on Laws Governing Homosexual Conduct that the existing
laws are unenforceable, unduly harsh and that homosexuals are
unjustifiably ostracised from the community.
The Report
CONFIDENTIAL
機密