[28-Oct-21], Port of Spain, TRINIDAD.
Crispin Blunt, the Chair of the APPG on Global LGBT+ Rights, in collaboration with Jason Jones will be holding discussions at their event The Privy Council v LGBT Chair of the + and Human Rights: A Panel Discussion on the role of the Privy Council as Supreme Court of the Caribbean on Monday 1st November 2021 at 18:00 in PCH meeting room O and online.
The event takes place just ahead of the Privy Council meeting on the General Savings Law Clause on the 2nd and 3rd of November.
This case, although nominally about the death penalty, has significant implications for the progress of LGBT+ rights in the Caribbean and Commonwealth, as it also hinges on General Savings Law Clause of the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.
The savings clause also protects the laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ citizens. The High Court of Justice in Trinidad and Tobago ruled on April 12, 2018, that the country’s laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy between consenting adults are unconstitutional. The 2018 victory at the High Court can be overturned by the T&T Appeal Court and/or the Privy Council if they decide that the laws are “saved” by Section 6. This clause was held by the Privy Council (5 to 4) in Boyce v the Queen [2004] UKPC 32 and Matthew v Trinidad and Tobago [2004] UKPC 33 to provide absolute immunity to all colonial laws in force at the time of Independence from constitutional challenge for breach of the fundamental rights and freedoms provisions of the new constitutions.
Since 2004, Barbados and Guyana have resigned to the jurisdiction of the Privy Council and adopted the Caribbean Court of Justice as final court of appeal. In 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice reversed for Barbados the decision in Boyce and Matthew in the case of Nervais v Regina [2018] CCJ 19 (AJ). It did likewise for Guyana in McEwan v Guyana [2018] CCJ 30 (AJ). It is only Trinidad and Tobago that remains bound by Boyce and Matthew. The Savings Clause is anathema to a modern humane society and we expect the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to modernise its interpretation and reconsider its position in a modern society and its relationship to humane judgements in law.”
Media Invitation
“The Privy Council v LGBT Chair of the + and Human Rights: A Panel Discussion on the role of the Privy Council as Supreme Court of the Caribbean”
Date: November 1st
Location: PCH meeting room O and online.
Time: 18:00
RSVP
Harry Prance: co-ordinator of the APPG:
(E) harry.prance@parliament.uk
Media Contact
John De Lima
Junior Publicist
Anansi Tales Marketing
(M)
Panel Info:
The panel is comprised of the following experts:
Jason Jones – Human Rights Defender from T&T & claimant in a legal challenge against his country’s discriminatory buggery laws
Anand Beharrylal QC – Barrister and constitutional law expert from T&T
Dr Leonardo Raznovich – LGBT Barrister & Human Rights academic, Officer of the Diversity and Inclusion Council of the International Bar Association
The Rt Hon. The Lord Herbert of South Downs CBE, The UK Special Envoy on LGBT Rights and Chair of the Global Equality Caucus
Crispin Blunt MP and Chair of APPG on Global LGBT+ Rights