A decades-old ban on consensual sex between men in Trinidad and Tobago has been struck down after a legal fight that reached London, in a decision that centres on privacy, identity and constitutional rights.
The case was brought by Jason Jones, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, and who argued that the Caribbean nation’s Sexual Offences Act violated his fundamental rights under the country’s constitution.
Jones first succeeded in the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago, where he won a ruling in his favour. That outcome was later reversed, leading him to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London — the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries.
The Privy Council concluded that the law was unconstitutional. Delivering the ruling, Judge Philip Sales said “the current understanding of the fundamental individual right to respect for private and family life is that it protects such a core part of human identity as one’s sexual orientation”.
“Laws which seek to criminalise such activities cannot be justified,” Judge Sales added.
