The judicial Committee of the Privy Council will rule on a land mark appeal in July. The appeal, was brought by Jason Jones, a British Trinbagonian who is challenging the colonial “buggery laws” which are still on Trinidad and Tobago’s law books.
The ruling could pave the way for decriminalization of same sex relationships in T&T and other parts of the Commonwealth.
As widely reported, in 2018, Mr. Jones secured a landmark victory when the Trinbagonian High Court ruled the laws unconstitutional.
However, T&T’s court of appeal partially overturned the decision in March 2025, citing a “savings clause” in this country’s constitution.
That clause shields laws enacted before T&T’s independence from legal challenge.
The Privy Council, as Trinidad and Tobago’s final court of appeal, has the power to dismantle a legal framework rooted in the British empire.