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Dudgeon v United Kingdom
Decided 22 October 1981
Full case name
Dudgeon v United Kingdom
Chamber
Grand Chamber
Language of proceedings
English
Nationality of parties
British
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342
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1981
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1981
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1982
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1983
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1984
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2017
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2017
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2019
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2020
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2020
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2021
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Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981) was a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case, which held that Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which criminalised male homosexual acts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, breached the defendant's rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.[1]
The case was significant
as the first successful case before the ECtHR on the criminalisation of male homosexuality;
as the case which led to legislation in 1982 bringing the law on male homosexuality in Northern Ireland into line with that in Scotland (since 1980) and in England and Wales (since 1967);
as a lead-in to Norris v. Ireland, a later case before the ECtHR argued by Mary Robinson, which challenged the continued application of the same 1885 law in the Republic of Ireland; and
for setting the legal precedent that ultimately resulted in the Council of Europe requiring that no member state could criminalise male or female homosexual behaviour.
^"Man persecuted for his sexuality wins landmark judgment – transforming the law in Northern Ireland and beyond". Council of Europe. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
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