Rights
1976 Republican Constitution with a savings clause for existing law
Trinidad and Tobago became a republic in 1976, replacing the monarch with a President elected by an Electoral College. The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights in sections 4 and 5, but section 6 saves laws in force before 1976 from challenge on rights grounds, which has shaped decades of litigation. Legislation inconsistent with the protected rights may still be enacted if passed by a three-fifths majority and expressly stated to have that effect.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Unitary republic, with the Tobago House of Assembly holding devolved functions
- Deadline — Constitutional motion: filed in the High Court, with no fixed limitation period
- Deadline — Judicial review: application made promptly and in any event within three months
Governing law
- Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 1976 (ss. 4 to 6)
- Judicial Review Act 2000
- Supreme Court of Judicature Act
In practice
The savings clause in section 6 is the single most important feature for practitioners, because a claimant challenging a colonial-era provision must first clear the hurdle that the law is saved rather than argue the merits of the rights breach. The Privy Council remains the final appellate court, and proposals to accept the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice have not been enacted.