Trinidad and Tobago’s Privy Council ruled that the Constitution could not justify laws making private, consensual same-sex relations between adults a crime, allowed activist Jason Jones’s appeal, and left the final wording of its order to be settled.
On November 10, the five-judge panel found that sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act 1986 infringed Jones’s rights, including his right to respect for private and family life. The laws made “buggery” and “serious indecency” crimes, with penalties that included prison. Jones began his challenge in 2017 and won in the High Court the following year.
An appeal later brought back parts of the restrictions, prompting him to take the case to the Privy Council. The Board rejected the government’s cross-appeal. It said making consensual intimacy a crime interfered with a fundamental part of personal identity.
The laws were rarely enforced in recent years. Rights advocates said their continued existence reinforced stigma and fear. The judges’ provisional view is to restore the High Court’s remedy, which would exclude private, consensual acts between adults from the offences.
The parties may make submissions before the exact order is finalized. The decision applies to Trinidad and Tobago. Advocates say it could inform debate elsewhere in the Caribbean, where some countries retain similar laws.