Privy Council Strikes Down Trinidad and Tobago's Colonial-Era Gay Sex Ban

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London ruled on November 10 that Trinidad and Tobago's Sexual Offences Act, which criminalised consensual sex between adult males, is unconstitutional. The ruling cannot be appealed.

Judge Philip James Sales, delivering the judgment, said the laws "cannot be regarded as reasonably justifiable in a society that has a proper respect for the rights and freedom of the individual." The Privy Council found it unconstitutional for the law to criminalise private, consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex.

The law dated from British colonial rule and called for up to five years in prison. It had not been enforced in recent history.

Jason Jones, a gay man born in Trinidad and Tobago, filed the case in February 2017, arguing the so-called "buggery" laws breached his fundamental rights under the country's constitution. He initially won at Trinidad and Tobago's High Court, but the government and religious organisations partially overturned that ruling, prompting him to take the case to the Privy Council — the island nation's highest appellate authority.

The decision ends a nearly 10-year legal battle for gay rights in Trinidad and Tobago. It also sets a landmark precedent for similar colonial-era laws still in place in several Caribbean nations.

The case highlights the ongoing role of the UK's Privy Council as the final court of appeal for some Commonwealth countries. A former colonial power's court has the last word on a former colony's human rights law.