Britain's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is still the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago, sided with LGBTQ+ activist Jason Jones on November 10, 2026, according to Global Voices. The ruling overturns a 2025 Court of Appeal decision that had kept the country's so-called buggery law in place. The law lords' unanimous view on the remedy is provisional, however, and further written submissions may still follow.
What the Council decided
The case, brought by Jones against the Attorney General, centred on Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act, which make consensual anal sex between adults a crime. Global Voices reports that the Council found Jones had shown the two sections could not reasonably be justified in a society properly respectful of individual rights and freedoms. On that basis it endorsed the 2018 ruling and dismissed a cross-appeal by the attorney-general. Its provisional position was that the remedy first granted by the High Court should remain.
How the case reached this point
Jones began his legal challenge in 2015. Three years later, Justice Devindra Rampersad found Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act Chapter 11:28 unconstitutional. The government quickly signalled an appeal, with then-Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi saying at the time that such a step was prudent so the question could be settled conclusively. On March 25, 2025, a local appeal court reversed Rampersad's judgement, and Jones pledged to pursue his fight at the Privy Council.
Among the issues before the law lords was the savings law clause, which keeps alive legislation passed before formerly colonised countries gained independence and adopted their own constitutions. Jones argued that this kind of clause did not belong in a modern democracy, and he accused the government and parliament of being derelict for failing to remove it, especially since the twin-island nation became a republic in 1976.
Reaction and wider significance
Because other territories in the region also rely on the Privy Council as their top appeal court, Global Voices suggests the outcome could bode well for comparable challenges elsewhere in the Caribbean. Jones welcomed the judgement but said the struggle is not over, arguing that it leaves unresolved the core questions of human rights and equality long withheld from LGBTQ+ people under colonial-era British laws throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. Global Voices notes that many LGBTQ+ organisations take a similar stance, and observes in its own account that discrimination persists alongside problems around language and acceptance in society and religion.
Academic Richard Drayton pointed to the judgement's passage treating the Constitution as a living instrument whose rights develop over time as its most important section. Pride TT praised Jones for his courage, resilience and determination, describing the decision as more than a legal milestone and as a reminder that everyone deserves dignity, privacy and freedom from discrimination.
Sources
- Global Voices (CC BY 3.0)
