Trinidad and Tobago's ban on gay sex overturned by UK's Privy Council

The UK Privy Council overturned Trinidad and Tobago's ban on consensual same-sex relations between adults on Tuesday, ending an 11-year legal battle. The court ruled the colonial-era laws violated the right to private and family life. The decision is final and binding on the Caribbean nation.

The United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on Tuesday overturned Trinidad and Tobago's ban on consensual same-sex relations between adults, ending an 11-year legal battle and striking down colonial-era legislation. The London-based court ruled that the laws criminalizing "buggery" and "serious indecency," which carried potential prison sentences of up to five years, violated the fundamental right to respect for private and family life. The case was brought by 62-year-old dual Trinidad and Tobago and UK citizen Jason Jones, who said he hoped the decision would accelerate the fight for full equality. Jones first challenged the law in 2017, won in the High Court in 2018, but the Court of Appeal partially overturned that decision in March 2025, prompting the appeal to the Privy Council. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. Attorney Ria Mohammed of the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights noted the irony of a former colony relying on its former colonial ruler's court to overturn a colonial-era law.