On 10 November 2026, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council delivered a historic verdict that nullified the provisions of the 1986 Sexual Offences Act which criminalised consensual intimacy between men in Trinidad and Tobago. The ruling marks the culmination of a legal odyssey that began in February 2017, when activist Jason Jones filed a constitutional challenge asserting that the law violated his right to privacy and personal autonomy.
The legal journey from High Court to Privy Council
Jones, a Trinidad-born LGBTQ advocate who fled the islands in 1996 after facing homophobic violence, first appeared before the Trinidad and Tobago High Court in April 2018. Justice Devindra Rampersad declared sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act “unconstitutional, illegal, null, void, invalid and of no effect”, emphasizing that the clauses infringed on the fundamental right to privacy. The judgment also likened anti-gay prejudice to historical injustices such as apartheid and the Holocaust, and it sparked both celebration and violent backlash outside the courtroom.
That victory was short-lived. In March 2025, the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court’s decision, invoking the constitutional “savings clause” – a safeguard that preserves certain pre-independence statutes from being struck down. Undeterred, Jones petitioned the Privy Council, the ultimate appellate body for the Commonwealth nation, to re-examine the issue.
Privy Council judgment and its key arguments
When the Privy Council convened in London, the bench, led by Lord Philip Sales, reaffirmed the High Court’s reasoning. Lord Sales observed that “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.” He added, “Laws which seek to criminalise such activities cannot be justified.” The judgment further declared that the 1986 legislation amounted to new law rather than a mere continuation of colonial statutes, and therefore could not be shielded by the savings clause. In a striking paragraph, the judge affirmed that “the ability to form a deep connection with another person through an intimate and loving relationship is a vital interest for all human beings.”
Jones welcomed the decision, stating, “This judgment will have a domino effect across every country that has the Privy Council as its supreme court. It will change many millions of people’s lives.” He also warned that legal victories do not instantly translate into societal acceptance, noting, “What a judgment says in a courtroom and what happens in your home and workplace are two entirely different things.”
Regional ripple effects and the Caribbean legal landscape
The Caribbean is a mosaic of jurisdictions where colonial-era bans on same-sex activity remain on the books. Courts in Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda have already struck down similar statutes, while the Bahamas decriminalised homosexuality in 1991. The United Kingdom repealed analogous laws in its overseas territories—including Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands—in 2001. By contrast, Grenada, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines continue to enforce criminal bans. The Privy Council’s ruling therefore supplies a powerful precedent for litigants in those remaining hold-outs.
Trinidad and Tobago, though an independent republic within the Commonwealth, still recognises the Privy Council as its final appellate court. The government has previously expressed interest in shifting to the Caribbean Court of Justice based in Trinidad, a move that could reshape the appellate dynamics for future rights cases across the region.
Reactions from activists, legal counsel and the broader community
Prominent LGBTQ campaigner Peter Tatchell described the judgment as “a gold standard for decriminalisation,” predicting that activists in at least a dozen countries will cite the decision in their own battles. Jones’s lawyer, Caroline Edwards, hailed the unanimous ruling as “an emphatic victory for Jason, for all gay men and women in Trinidad and Tobago and for anyone who believes in fundamental human rights.”
Jones’s personal story underscores the stakes involved. In 2018, he received an Attitude Pride Award for his courageous challenge, a year after the High Court’s favorable ruling. During that period, he reported twelve serious death threats, two of which featured Arabic script; a security friend warned him to leave the country immediately. Despite these pressures, Jones remains resolute, explaining that “I’m not afraid of pushback” and that his fight is for “our hearts and minds” as well as legal change.
Local LGBTQ organisations, such as Pride TT, welcomed the judgment but cautioned that legal reform does not erase discrimination, stigma or unequal access to employment, housing, health care and education. The broader societal conversation is expected to continue as the nation grapples with the practical implementation of the ruling.
