| National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Home Affairs | |
|---|---|
| Court | Constitutional Court of South Africa |
| Full case name | National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Others |
| Date decided | 2 December 1999 |
| Citation(s) | [1999] ZACC 17, 2000 (1) BCLR 39, 2000 (2) SA 1 |
| Judges sitting | President Chaskalson, Deputy President Langa, Justices Ackermann, Goldstone, Madala, Mokgoro, Ngcobo, O'Regan, Sachs, Yacoob, Acting Justice Cameron |
| Decision by | Justice Ackermann |
| Appealed from | Cape Provincial Division |
| Keywords | |
| LGBT rights, immigration equality | |
National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Others is a 1999 decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which extended immigration rights to the foreign partners of South African citizens in same-sex relationships.
The Court ruled that section 25(5) of the Aliens Control Act, 1991 was unconstitutional because it did not grant to partners in permanent same-sex life partnerships the same benefits that it granted to married couples. It therefore discriminated unfairly on the basis of sexual orientation, which was inconsistent with the equality clause of the Bill of Rights. (The decision came before the 2006 legalisation of same-sex marriage in South Africa.)
The Court decided that the unconstitutionality was to be remedied by reading in the words "or partner, in a permanent same-sex life partnership" after the word "spouse" in the Aliens Control Act.[1]
The Aliens Control Act was subsequently repealed and replaced by the Immigration Act, 2002, which defines "spouse" as "a person who is a party to a marriage, or a customary union, or a permanent homosexual or heterosexual relationship".
Works related to National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Home Affairs at Wikisource
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