National

The 1997 [R1.1] the constitution of Fiji was amended banning discrimination based on sexual orientation [R1.2].

Section 37(2)(a) "A person must not be unfairly discriminated against,directly or indirectly, on the grounds of his or her: (a) actual or suposed personal characteristics or circumstances, including race, ethnic origin, colour, place of origin, gender, sexual orientation, birth, primary language, economic status, age or disability; or (b) opinions or beliefs, except to the extent that those opinions or beliefs involve harm to others or the diminution of the rights or freedoms of others; or on any other ground prohibited by this constitution." [R1.3].

Section 37(3) says: "Accordingly, neither a law nor an administrative action taken under a law may directly or indirectly impose a disability or restriction on any person on a prohibited ground." [R1.3].

National

In March 2010, a new decree confirmed that sex between consenting people of the same gender is now legal [R1.1].

Previously:

In July 2006, the Fijian High Commission confirmed that gay men will no longer be arrested for consensual sex in the privacy of their own home [R1.2]

Quaere in 2005, consensual sex between same-sex couples was decriminalised [R1.3].

Article 175 of Fiji’s Penal Code provided for up to 14 years’ imprisonment, with or without corporal punishment, for any person who had carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature [R1.3], [R1.4].

Article 177 provided for up to five years imprisonment for any male person who, whether in public or private, committed any act of gross indecency with another male person [R1.4].

In October 1998, the Committee on Consequental Legislation of Parliament decided to amend the Bill of Rights to explicitly read that homosexual relationships and same-sex marriages remain illegal [R1.5].

Courts & Tribunals

In March 2006, two men were charged with sodomy in Fiji despite a high court ruling that the law is unconstitutional [R2.1].

In September 2005, Lautoka High Court judge Justice Gerard Winter found that convictions imposed on two men for having consensual, private, adult homosexual sex were invalid because they were inconsistent with the 1997 Constitution's protection of privacy and equality. But his judgment only applied to homosexual acts in private [R2.2].

National

In October 1998, the Committee on Consequental Legislation of Parliament decided to amend the Bill of Rights to explicitly read that homosexual relationships and same-sex marriages remain illegal [R1.1].