London Court Rules Trinidad and Tobago’s Ban on Private, Consensual Same-Sex Activity Between Adults Unconstitutional

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, Trinidad and Tobago’s highest court of appeal, unanimously allowed LGBT activist Jason Jones’s appeal on November 10, 2026. The court ruled that sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act 1986 cannot criminalize private, consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex. The judges cited the constitutional right to respect for private and family life in their judgment.

The ban originated in British colonial law. Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court found it unconstitutional in 2018. In March 2025, the local Court of Appeal reinstated provisions of a 1925 colonial law that carried up to five years in prison for sex between men. The London court found that the 1986 provisions were new laws and therefore fell outside the constitutional clause that preserves earlier laws.

The committee will make its final order on how to bring the sections into line with the constitution after receiving written submissions from the parties. The ruling could help challenges to similar bans elsewhere in the Caribbean, according to The Guardian.