(Feb. 23, 2017) Section 166 of the recently enacted Policing and Crime Act of England and Wales granted approximately 49,000 deceased gay and bisexual men a posthumous pardon for offenses they were convicted of under the old sexual offenses laws that had provided that homosexuality was a crime. The Act also states that any living person who was convicted of these offenses may apply for a statutory pardon to remove the convictions from their records. (Policing and Crime Act 2017, c. 3, LEGISLATION.GOV.UK.)
The law, referred to as the “Alan Turing law” after one of the most notable people to be convicted under the old provisions, grants posthumous pardons to men convicted of homosexuality offenses provided the following conditions are met:
- the parties to the conduct were over the age of 16 years old and both consented; and
- the offence is not an offence under section 71 of the Sexual Offences Act, which provides that sexual activity in a public restroom is a criminal offence. (Policing and Crime Act, § 166.)
The offenses included under the Act, known during the time they were enacted as “unnatural offences,” are the offense of buggery under section 12 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and similar related offenses under historical acts such as An Act for the Punishment of the Vice of Buggery 1533 and similar acts. (Sexual Offences Act 1956, c. 69, LEGISLATION.GOV.UK; An Act for the Punishment of the Vice of Buggery 1533, 25 Hen. 8 c. 6, 3 STATUTES OF THE REALM at 441, available at HATHI TRUST DIGITAL LIBRARY; An Act Against Sodomy 1548, 2 & 3 Edw. 6, c. 29, 4 Pt 1 STATUTES OF THE REALM at 72, available at HATHI TRUST DIGITAL LIBRARY; An Act for the Punishment of the Vice of Buggery 1562, 5 Eliz. 1, c. 17, 4 Pt 1 STATUTES OF THE REALM at 447, available at HATHI TRUST DIGITAL LIBRARY; Offences Against the Person Act 1861, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, LEGISLATION.GOV.UK.)
Alan Turing’s Case
Alan Turing, the namesake of the law, is considered to be the father of the computer and of artificial intelligence. He played a key role in breaking Nazi codes during World War II and was described by Winston Churchill as making “the single biggest contribution to the allied victory.” (Ashley Cowburn, Theresa May Committed to Introducing ‘Alan Turing Law’ and Pardon Gay Men Convicted of ‘Gross Indecency,’ INDEPENDENT (London) (Sept. 21, 2016).)
Turing was convicted of gross indecency under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 after he acknowledged a sexual relationship with a male partner. (Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. c.69, available at British Library website.) He pled guilty and received a sentence of one year of probation, during which time he was required to undergo hormonal treatment, which left him impotent. (B.J. Copeland, Alan Turing, ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA (last updated Jan. 23, 2016).) The conviction led to the revocation of his security clearance and left him unable to work for the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters; it also resulted in his being denied entry into the United States. Just two years after the conviction, he died in an apparent suicide after eating an apple poisoned with cyanide. (Id.) At the time of Turing’s death, suicide remained a criminal offense. It was later decriminalized by the Suicide Act 1961. (Suicide Act 1961, 9 & 10 Eliz. 2, c. 60, LEGISLATION.GOV.UK.)
Turing was pardoned in 2013 by the rarely used Royal Prerogative of Mercy after Ministers altered their stance that he had been rightfully convicted of a crime under the provisions of the time. (Copeland, supra; Alan Turing’s Trial Charges and Sentences, 31 March 1952, supra.)