Commentary on provisions of Act Section 14: Repeals relating to discharge for homosexual acts
Section 1(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 provided that, subject to section 2 of that Act, a homosexual act committed in private between consenting adults was not a criminal offence. Section 1(5) of the 1967 Act provided that subsection (1) did not prevent an act from being an offence under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 or the Naval Discipline Act 1957. Section 146(1), (2) and (3) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 repealed sections 1(5) and 2 of the 1967 Act and the equivalent provisions of Scottish legislation. Section 147(1) and (2) of the 1994 Act repealed the equivalent provisions of Northern Irish legislation. The only provisions in sections 146 and 147 which remain in force are sections 146(4) and 147(3).
	Sections 146(4) and 147(3) contain wording which provides that those sections do not prevent a homosexual act from being a ground for discharging a member of the armed forces. Section 14 removes that wording. When sections 146 and 147 were enacted, it was government policy that homosexuality was incompatible with service in the armed forces and, accordingly, members of the armed forces who engaged in homosexual activity were administratively discharged from the armed forces. That policy was abandoned in January 2000, following a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.