Section 377A of the Penal Code (Singapore)

Section 377A of the Penal Code of Singapore is the main remaining piece of legislation which criminalises sex between mutually consenting adult men.

Section 377A ("Outrages on decency") states that:

Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.

Origin

To understand the background of section 377A, the enactment of its mother statute, the original section 377 which criminalised sex "against the order of nature" and was popularly known as the "unnatural sex" law, must first be explained.

The Singapore Penal Code, Chapter XVI (Offences Affecting the Human Body), Section 377 (Cap. 224) stated that:
"Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section."

The rationale behind this law was originally based on English criminal law which sought to prohibit sodomy. It was incorporated by the British colonial administration in the late 1850s, in particular by Lord Thomas Macaulay who drafted the Indian Penal Code to replace Hindu criminal law which had hitherto held sway in the greater part of India. Under Hindu law, consensual intercourse between members of the same sex was never an offence. In Macaulay's draft however, section 377 criminalised "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" which became punishable by harsh penalties.

Section 377 became effective as part of the new British-imposed Indian Penal Code from January 1, 1862, and was adopted by the colonial masters, also as Section 377 into the Straits Settlements Penal Code in 1871. The cloned and transplanted law came into operation in the Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang and Malacca on September 16, 1872. Repealed in October 2007 for Singapore only.

Section 377A (Outrages on decency) was added to the sub-title "Unnatural offences" in the Straits Settlements in 1938. Both sections were absorbed unchanged into the Singapore Penal Code when the latter was passed by Singapore's Legislative Council on January 28, 1955.

Similarly-worded legislation was also introduced by the British into their other Asian colonies such as Hong Kong (repealed since 1991), Malaya (now Malaysia) and Burma in the late 19th century.

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ection 377 (repealed in October 2007)

"Sodomy" was not defined in Indian statutory law, so Indian legislators in the 19th and early 20th centuries extended its meaning to cover fellatio, buggery and bestiality as well, although early cases tried in India mainly involved forced fellatio with unwilling male children and one unusual case of sexual intercourse with the nostril of a buffalo
*.
*cite web|last= [Lim] |first=Wee Kuan|title=Gay law : Emancipation and emasculation|url=http://www.oursafehaven.com/activities/gaylaw.htm|publisher=Safehaven, Free Community Church|date=2002-10-01|accessdate=2007-10-20 A review of all Singaporean laws governing homosexual behaviour.

External links

* [http://www.keep377a.com Keep377A.com] – campaign for the retention of section 377A of the Penal Code
* [http://www.repeal377a.com Repeal377a.com] – campaign for the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code