By Brian Ellsworth — Reuters, 30 August 2022
MIAMI (Reuters) — A Caribbean regional court has ruled that a Saint Kitts and Nevis prohibition on gay sex is unconstitutional because it violates the right to privacy, striking down one of a handful of bans on same-sex intercourse that still exist in the region. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled against two portions of the Offences Against the Person Act, adopted in the dual-island nation in 1873, which called for up to ten years imprisonment for having or attempting to have gay sex.
The law’s statutes criminalising gay sex are inconsistent with the constitution “and, as such, null and void and of no force and effect,” wrote High Court Judge Trevor M. Ward in a decision dated 29 August 2022. The suit was brought by Jamal Jeffers, a gay man from the Caribbean nation, and a non-profit organisation called Saint Kitts and Nevis Alliance for Equality. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court hears disputes involving members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, which includes six independent countries and three overseas British territories. Buggery laws remain on the books in a number of Caribbean nations including Jamaica and Barbados. Though they are rarely enforced, gay rights activists say that eliminating them would help ease pervasive homophobia.
Additionally, Taiwan raised its monthly minimum wage to NT$26,400 (US$865) and the basic hourly rate to NT$176 (US$5.75) starting in 2023, following a meeting of the Minimum Wage Review Committee representing labour, capital, government and academia. The resulting increase was 4.55% — lower than what labour groups had sought but higher than what businesses had pushed for.