Hamid Ghany

The constitution of Trinidad and Tobago requires that any legislation that may infringe upon human rights provisions must be subjected to a three-fifths majority vote in both Houses of Parliament for successful enactment. When the founding fathers of the Trinidad and Tobago independence constitution met in April 1962 at the Queen’s Hall Conference, the Government accepted a proposal from Hugh Wooding, then President of the Bar Association, to replace the Bill of Rights in the draft constitution with a Bill of Rights based on the Canadian Bill of Rights 1960 that would be suitably modified. The amended model that was adopted at the Joint Select Committee stage in Trinidad and Tobago and subsequently further refined at the Marlborough House Conference in London for the independence constitution applied the formula of a three-fifths majority whenever Parliament wishes to legislate in a manner that will infringe human rights. Effectively, what that innovation by Wooding did in 1962 was ...

The Commonwealth Caribbean consisted of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and, Trinidad and Tobago. In the intervening years between 1962, when Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago attained their independence, and 1983, when St. Kitts-Nevis attained its independence, it is to be noted that all the constitutions of these countries bore a resemblance to each other. This similarity between countries and the similarity of constitutional design has been referred to as the Westminster–Whitehall model in the Commonwealth Caribbean. This chapter explores the main tenets of the Westminster–Whitehall model as well as providing some context as to why there is a desire to hold on to it.

This article traces the development of the Westminster convention of the prime ministerial power of dissolution. It examines developments in constitutional provisions, in Britain primarily, and also through the independence constitutions of a wide range of Commonwealth countries. The essential issue is the power of the executive to dismiss the legislature. British conventions have emerged in such a manner that

This article traces the development of the Westminster convention of the prime ministerial power of dissolution. It examines developments in constitutional provisions, in Britain primarily, and also through the independence constitutions of a wide range of Commonwealth countries. The essential issue is the power of the executive to dismiss the legislature. British conventions have emerged in such a manner that

The introduction of bicameralism into the legislative structure of Trinidad and Tobago was considered to be one of the hallmarks of constitutional reform for Trinidad and Tobago as advocated by Eric Williams. Prior to becoming the first Chief Minister and subsequently first Premier of the Colony of Trinidad and Tobago, Williams embarked on a series of public meetings throughout the colony to gain public acceptance for his ideas on constitutional reform in general and bicameralism in particular. He gained widespread popularity from these public meetings. This gave him leverage to form a political party, the People's National Movement (PNM), which carried him to political power and changed the direction of constitutional reform in the colony, as far as the structure of the legislature was concerned, away from unicameralism to bicameralism. Williams modified his original ideas once in power and was influenced by the structure of the senate of the West Indian Federation that came into being in 1958 as well as the desire to maintain political stability. Williams was only able to achieve his goal because the Colonial Office sided with him against the main opposition party in the colony in 1961. The model of the senate created in 1961 has remained the same structurally since then with only an increase in its size.