NAIROBI (Reuters) - Parties involved in a court case seeking to decriminalize gay sex in Kenya will be allowed to make submissions based on a recent decision by India’s top court to overturn a ban on gay sex, a Kenyan court said on Thursday.

India’s top court on Sept. 6 scrapped a colonial-era law that punished gay sex with up to 10 years in jail, raising hopes among activists worldwide, including in Africa, for similar reforms elsewhere.

The constitutional division of Kenya’s High Court will hear submissions from both parties on Oct. 25 on the relevance of India’s decision to Kenya, given that both countries have shared the law - dating back to the days of British colonial rule - that criminalizes “sexual acts against the order of nature”.

“Kenyan courts are bound only by decisions of higher courts in Kenya, but decisions of foreign courts can be persuasive. They don’t have to be adopted,” said Charles Kanjama, a lawyer representing parties against decriminalization. Read more via Reuters