Concept Note: Law and morality, from ages have been recognized as closely related to each other. They influence each other to such an extent that laws, to be effective should have a moral foundation. Law and morality, albeit being interdependent on each other for continuity, has often contended against each other on the point of varied perceptions of rationality. The discrepancy with respect to law and morality had been advanced by social liberals in the context of rights of sexual minorities. The advocates of sexual freedom, civil rights, and gender equality had many times fought human right battles to protect the rights of sexual minorities. The long-standing condemnation and criminalisation of homosexual activity in United States was overturned by the landmark decision of Lawrence v. Texas where the US Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in Texas and other 13 states thereby asserting the importance of protecting the rights of sexual minorities.
In India, recognizing and enforcing the rights of sexual minorities often faced impediments as the Indian society does not morally condone such behavior and the law should reflect the social and moral values. This societal attitude bounded by the moral-religious fiber became the foundation of s. 377 IPC which criminalizes the acts against the order of nature which includes homosexual marriages. The legal battle with regard to the recognition of the rights of minorities had been subjected to judicial scrutiny several times. Recently, Indian judiciary, in the case of Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India took a remarkable step by partially decriminalizing offences under S. 377 IPC. The Court opined that majoritarianism and popular morality should not override constitutional mandate and also distinguished between social morality and constitutional morality where the former meant the age old historical values i.e. any form of intercourse not leading to procreation is considered unacceptable while the latter is to accept that the society is dynamic and the societal values change with time. This landmark decision legalized consensual sexual activity between adult homosexuals thereby leaving out many important aspects like right to marriage, family and adoption by homosexuals unaddressed.
It is at this watershed moment, the alumni association of the Department of Law, Central University of Kerala is organising a National Seminar on the topic “Law and Morality in the context of the Rights of Sexual minorities” at the Department of Law, Central University of Kerala on 11th October, 2018.
Call for Papers
The organizers of the seminar call upon the legal professionals, academicians from all disciplines ,administrators, research scholars ,students, social activists and the representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations to present their research papers relevant to the below-mentioned themes.
Thematic Breakup
* Law and Morality – Theoretical issues
* Approach of different legal system towards the rights of sexual minorities
* Social morality and Constitutional morality
* Constitutional morality, religious morality and freedom of religion
* Rights of persons having deviant sexual orientation
> Freedom from criminal liability
> Right to marriage, family and adoption
> Freedom from torture and inhuman treatment
> Right to dignity
> Right to decent life
> Rights of Transgender
> Prevention of sexual abuse and rights of sexual minorities
Submission guidelines
An abstract not exceeding 750 words shall be submitted for consideration. The abstract shall contain:
* Title of paper
* Synopsis of the Paper
* Conclusion indicating author’s perspective.
* Name and title Postal addresses e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of all contributors.
In case of co-authorship, each author will have to register separately in the event of participation in the conference.
Guidelines for submission of full paper
> Length of the paper shall be less than 4000 words (including foot notes)
> Format: MS Word, Font Type: Times New Roman, Font Size: 12 Point, Line Spacing: 1.5
> For title of the Paper 14 point capitals may be used
> Name and Designation of the author/authors shall be mentioned below the title of the paper
> Harvard Blue Book Style (20th Edition) shall be used for citation
> Revision (if any) suggested by the reviewer of the paper shall be included. Revisions suggested are on the basis of blind peer review.
Fee for the conference material: The fee for conference material for academicians, practitioners and other professionals is Rs 500 and for students and research scholars is Rs 250.
Important Dates
Last date for abstract submission: 29th September
Communication of status of abstract: 1st October
Submission of Full length papers: 9th October
Date of Conference: 11th October
Venue: Department of Law, Thiruvalla Campus
Mode of Payment: Participants can make their payment either through online, NEFT or by cheque/ DD drawn in favor of Alumni Association Dept of Law with the below mentioned account details. Once payment is made kindly send the soft copy of the payment receipt to this mail:
Name of Account Holder: Alumni Association Dept of Law
Account Number: 1982101019537
Bank: Canara Bank
Branch: Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta, Kerala
IFSC: CNRB 0001982
For query please contact: Dr. Gireesh Kumar J, Assistant professor, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala Email ID: gireeshlegus@gmail.com, Mob: 9968313515
Aathira Raju, Assistant professor, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala Email ID: aathiraraju@gmail.com, Mob: 9495680968
Visruth Raveendran, Research Scholar, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala Email ID: visruth90@gmail.com, Mob: 9496815080, 7356079792
Swetha Sasikumar, Research Scholar, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala, swetha.sasikumar3@gmail.com, Mob: 8547673330
Anoop C, President, Alumni Association, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala, cbanoopptb@gmail.com, Mob: 9496353910
Jijo Antony, Treasurer, Alumni Association, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala, antony007jijo@gmail.com, Mob: 8129825971
