Story highlights Living men convicted can also seek pardonsLaw named after British WWII codebreaker Alan TuringLondon (CNN) Thousands of gay and bisexual men who were convicted of now-abolished sexual offenses in Britain have been posthumously pardoned under a new policing law, the Justice Ministry announced. The "Turing law" received royal assent on Tuesday, the last stage in a bill becoming law in the United Kingdom. It gives an automatic pardon to men who died before the law came into force, and makes it possible for living convicted gay men to seek pardons for offenses no longer on the statute book. British mathematician Alan Turing, aged 16 in 1928. In 2013, nearly 60 years later, he received a posthumous royal pardon from Queen Elizabeth II.

Source: CNN January 31, 2017 16:07 UTC