UK Privy Council overrules Trinidad and Tobago gay sex law

A London court has overturned Trinidad and Tobago's anti-gay sex law, following a legal challenge by a gay man who argued that the law violated his human rights. Jason Jones, born in Trinidad and Tobago, claimed the Caribbean nation's Sexual Offences Act breached his fundamental rights under the country's constitution. Initially successful at Trinidad and Tobago's High Court, Jones appealed to London's Privy Council, the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago and other Commonwealth countries.

The Privy Council ruled the law unconstitutional, stating that the current understanding of the fundamental right to respect for private and family life includes protection of one's sexual orientation. Judge Philip Sales emphasized that laws criminalizing such activities cannot be justified.