Privy Council allows Jones appeal; final remedy submissions pending

WACK 90.1 FM · NEWS | Published 11 November 2026 | News synthesis

The Privy Council unanimously allowed Jason Jones’s constitutional appeal on 10 November, ruling that sections 13 and 16 of Trinidad and Tobago’s Sexual Offences Act infringe his fundamental rights. The provisions must be interpreted so they do not criminalise private, consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex.

The Board also dismissed the Attorney General’s cross-appeal. Its judgment rejects arguments that the provisions were protected by the Constitution’s savings clause or saved by the special parliamentary majority used to pass the law.

The precise final remedial order remains subject to further written submissions. In paragraphs 85–89, the Board sets out its provisional view favouring the earlier High Court remedy and allows the parties to make submissions. The ruling should therefore not be described as an order deleting both sections in their entirety.

Dated sources

JCPC [2026] UKPC 38, 10 November 2026; TTT, Melissa Wong, 10 November 2026

https://www.jcpc.uk/cases/judgments/jcpc-2025-0095

https://www.ttt.live/privy-council-rules-against-criminalisation-of-consensual-same-sex-relations/

Prepared from the linked original documents and reporting; not a WACK interview or eyewitness account.

Back to Trinbago News Now