The London-based Privy Council was expected to hand...

The London-based Privy Council was expected to hand down a ruling that would affect the imposition of the death penalty in several Caribbean countries, according to a statement issued by the Barbados government. It said that legal sources in Britain, who were familiar with the case, said the Law Lords should hand down their decision, possibly by the end of June. The Privy Council, the court of appeal for several Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries, was to determine whether the mandatory death sentence on conviction of murder was cruel and unusual punishment, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the country's international obligations. The case was first heard by a five-member panel of the Privy Council in December 2003, which requested that it be re-argued before an expanded panel, given it's serious implication for Commonwealth Caribbean constitutional interpretation. During the December hearing, Barbados Attorney-General Mia Mottley sought and obtained intervener status to present arguments on behalf of the government, on the grounds that laws on capital punishment in the country were consistent with international law and Barbados' international legal obligations. Mottley said that while the issue of the mandatory death sentence on conviction of murder had brought the matter before the Law Lords, the implications went to the very heart of self-governance itself.
"In fact, Miss Mottley during the December 2003 sessions, had contended that striking down of a section of the Barbados Constitution, as proposed by counsel for the appellants in relation to Section 26 (the existing laws clause) or drastic modification, expressed or implied, would evoke severe and disruptive national legal, financial administrative and social implications," the statement said.
Noting that retention of the death penalty was among other critical laws saved at the time of Independence, the statement further added, "the government of Barbados firmly holds to the fundamental principle that it is parliament which has responsibility for amending laws." Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica also presented similar views to the Privy Council.