Hangings, though still legally a part of Trinidad and Tobago’s justice system, cannot currently be carried out, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar confirmed on Thursday.
The Prime Minister said the conclusion was based on a legal report submitted to her by Attorney General John Jeremie, outlining the status of inmates on death row and the constraints imposed by existing legal precedents.
Speaking during a post-Cabinet news conference at the Red House, Persad-Bissessar noted that as of May 10, 2025, there are 38 inmates on death row. Of those, only 18 fall within the timeline established by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the Pratt and Morgan ruling— which sets a five-year limit for executions after sentencing.
“Of these inmates, only 18 are eligible to be hanged, if we accept that these 18 have been sentenced to death and are yet under the timeline established by Pratt and Morgan ruling under the Privy Council,” she said. “So, that is only these 18 condemned inmates under the five-year timeline… the other 20 are over the timeline as they have appeals pending.”
However, even those 18 cannot currently face execution. “In terms of how many inmates can face the death penalty or have the death penalty be carried out at this time… the answer is none, given the state of the law,” Persad-Bissessar stated.
She elaborated that one of the 18 has an appeal before the Privy Council, while the remaining 17 have cases pending before the local appellate court—specifically, the Chamber of the Supreme Court.
“It can be said therefore that until these appeals are heard, the death penalty cannot be lawfully carried out at this time, even among the 18,” she added.
Asked whether it was possible to fast-track the appeals to remain within the five-year execution window, the Prime Minister said, “I will ask my AG to adjust his mind to it. And remember, we have a whole new justice ministry now… because of delays in the justice system, it will take us a few days more than ten days. We can look at that solution.”
The last executions in Trinidad and Tobago occurred in 1999. Between June 4 and June 7 of that year, alleged drug kingpin Dole Chadee and eight members of his gang were hanged for the 1994 murders of the Baboolal family. On July 28, 1999, Anthony Briggs was also executed for the murder of a taxi driver during a robbery.
Trinidad and Tobago had initially signed the American Convention on Human Rights on May 26, 1998, but later withdrew from it. The denunciation took effect on May 26, 1999, making the country the first to formally exit the convention. The move came after concerns that the mandatory death penalty for murder clashed with the Convention’s human rights standards.
At the time of withdrawal, the Attorney General was Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was Ralph Maraj—both serving under a United National Congress (UNC)-led administration.
