Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017

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Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to repeal sections 146(4) and 147(3) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
Citation 2017 c. 26
Introduced by John Glen (Commons)
Baroness Scott of Bybook (Lords)
Territorial extent  England and Wales Scotland, Northern Ireland but the repeals have the same extent as the provisions to which they relate [1]
Dates
Royal assent 27 April 2017
Commencement 27 April 2017 [1]
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017 (c. 26) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act repealed parts of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 that allowed homosexual acts to be grounds for dismissal from the crew of merchant ships.

Contents

Background

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 did not apply to the merchant navy. [2]

Passage

It was introduced to Parliament as a private members bill by John Glen and Baroness Scott of Bybook. [3] [4]

During the passage of the legislation, the Conservative MP, Christopher Chope suggested that the repeal should be retrospective which would have quashed convictions. [5]

Through the Commons

The Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 29 June 2016 and its second reading on 20 January 2017. [6] The committee stage started on 8 February and the committee reported on 24 March. [6] The Bill passed its third reading the same day with no amendments.

Through the Lords and royal assent

The Bill had its first reading on 27 March 2017 and its second reading on 6 April. [6] The order of commitment was discharged and so the Bill had no committee stage in the Lords. The Bill passed its third reading on 27 of April and gained royal assent the same day. [6]

Provisions

The act repeals sections 146(4) and 147(3) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which allowed conduct deemed homosexual as grounds for dismissal from the crew of a merchant ship. [7] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "2 - Commencement, extent and short title". Legislation.gov.uk . Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  2. ↑ Tatchell, Peter (19 July 2017). "Arrests didn't end when gay sex was 'decriminalised' in 1967 – they rocketed". The i Paper. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017". Parliament.uk . Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  4. ↑ "MPs unanimously pass bill to repeal one of the UK's last anti-gay laws". PinkNews . 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 April 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  5. ↑ "The week ahead in Parliament: Brexit bill and Trump debate". BBC News. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Bill stages — Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017". Parliament.uk . Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "1 - Homosexual acts in the merchant navy: repeals". Legislation.gov.uk . Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Merchant Shipping | LexisNexis". www.lexisnexis.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 August 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
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