Visit UKSCJCPC/2020/0051
•
CRIME
Chandler (Appellant) v The State (Respondent) No 2 (Trinidad and Tobago)
Case summary
Case ID
JCPC/2020/0051
Jurisdiction
Trinidad and Tobago
Parties
Appellant(s)
Jay Chandler
Respondent(s)
The State
Issue
Is the mandatory death sentence in Trinidad and Tobago, pursuant to section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1925, unconstitutional?
Facts
On 17 August 2011, Jay Chandler was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging. On 12 December 2013, his conviction and sentence were upheld by the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago. On 2 August 2016, permission to appeal against conviction was granted by the Privy Council. On 12 March 2018, following a hearing on 16 January 2018, the appeal was dismissed by a majority of the Board (Lords Carnwath, Sumption and Reed; with Lords Kerr and Lloyd-Jones dissenting).On 27 June 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice ("CCJ") in Nervais v the Queen [2018] CCJ 19 (AJ) found that the mandatory death penalty in Barbados violated rights protected under the Constitution of Barbados, overturning the previous decision of the Privy Council in Boyce v the Queen [2005] 1 AC 400. In Boyce, the Board had held, by a majority of five-to-four, that the ‘savings clause’ in the Barbados Constitution immunised the mandatory death penalty from constitutional challenge.On 18 February 2019 and 23 March 2020 respectively, permission to appeal against the mandatory death sentence for murder in Trinidad and Tobago was granted by the Privy Council in Burris v the State (JCPC 108/57) and Cohen v the State (JCPC 2019/56). The issue in those cases is whether, following the CCJ’s decision in Nervais, the Privy Council’s previous decision in Matthew v the State [2005] 1 AC 433, which upheld the mandatory death sentence in Trinidad and Tobago for similar reasons given in Boyce, should be reconsidered.Mr Chandler now appeals to the Privy Council against sentence, arguing that, the mandatory death sentence for murder in Trinidad and Tobago is unconstitutional.
Date of issue
5 August 2020
Judgment details
Judgment date
16 May 2022
Neutral citation
[2022] UKPC 19
Judgment links
Judgment summary
16 May 2022
Appeal
Justices
Lady Arden
Lord Hughes
Sir Nigel Davis
Hearing dates
Full hearing
Start date
2 November 2021
End date
3 November 2021
Watch hearings
2 November 2021 - Morning session
2 November 2021 - Afternoon session
3 November 2021 - Morning session
3 November 2021 - Afternoon session
All videos on this page are recorded and transmitted in line with the Court's terms of use. These can be found here.. Please Note: Every effort is being made to provide a satisfactory streaming service of the Supreme Court judgments and hearings. However, these services may be subject to technical issues or delay, in which case we will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible.
Change log
Last updated 9 May 2024